Code Section

8202.6.  

(a) (1) The Superintendent, in consultation with the Director of Social Services and the executive director of the State Board of Education, shall convene a statewide interest holder workgroup. The workgroup shall include representatives from county offices of education, contracted state preschool programs, including those operated by school districts and by community-based organizations, transitional kindergarten programs, tribal preschool programs, educators, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, First 5, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, contracted general childcare programs serving preschool-age children, Head Start, private center-based preschool providers, licensed family childcare providers, researchers, and child development experts.

(2) The workgroup shall provide recommendations on best practices for increasing access to high-quality universal preschool programs for three- and four-year-old children offered through a mixed-delivery model that provides equitable learning experiences across a variety of settings. The workgroup shall also provide recommendations to update preschool standards pursuant to Section 8203 to support equitable access to high-quality preschool and transitional kindergarten programs through the mixed-delivery model and across all appropriate settings and funding sources.

(3) The workgroup recommendations shall be in alignment with the work of the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, without recommending new system changes that create increased state or local costs to offer preschool across the mixed-delivery system.

(b) The workgroup pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be established no later than December 1, 2022.

(c) The Superintendent shall, in consultation with the Director of Social Services, provide a report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature and the Department of Finance with the recommendations of the workgroup no later than March 31, 2024.

(d) For purposes of this section, the State Department of Education may enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts with nongovernmental entities on a bid or negotiated basis. A contract entered into or amended pursuant to this section shall be exempt from Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 14825) of Part 5.5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, Section 19130 of the Government Code, and Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, and shall be exempt from the review or approval of any division of the Department of General Services.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a contracted nongovernmental entity described in subdivision (d) may subcontract as necessary in the performance of its duties, subject to approval of the Superintendent.