County programs were initially developed as local education agencies, Head Start programs, licensed child care centers, and additional community programs were required to develop annual county pre-k plans with the vision of serving every eligible pre-k child by the 2012-2013 school year. State code and West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) Policy 2525 continues to charge local education agencies to facilitate joint development of universal program structure that provides pre-k to every eligible child in a manner that illustrates shared responsibility, mutual oversight, and capitalization of resources. Partnerships within each program must be maintained to ensure that requirements and goals are met for individual programs, as well as the overall county pre-k program.
Each county collaborative early childhood team is comprised of participants who have entered into individual partnerships. Individual partnerships impact the larger community and provide resources for children and families. Therefore, positive partnerships and programs among individual partnerships create holistic, integrated countywide early childhood programs with maximum child, family, and community benefits and outcomes. A collaborative contract must be
completed and signed annually by the local education agency (LEA) and each collaborative partner to illustrate agreement of terms for pre-k program implementation. The collaborative contract between agencies must address how the collaborative partner will assure compliance with all applicable regulations and standards. Further, a budget and cost allocation worksheet must be completed for each collaborative pre-k classroom as part of the collaborative contract to illustrate specific costs and allocations of contracts.