(a) (1) (A) (i) Any early childhood program accredited and quality approved by the Department of Human Services according to standards approved by the Department of Education may apply for funding, regardless of the sponsorship of the program.

(ii) Local school districts may apply for funding to operate early childhood programs, not including public school kindergarten, but an appropriate early childhood program need not be affiliated with a school district in order to receive funding.

(B) All applications submitted by sectarian or sectarian-affiliated programs must first be reviewed to assure that any approval of funding will not result in a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

(2) (A) A local-to-state match will be required in the ratio of forty to sixty (40:60), except that the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education may waive the requirement of the local-to-state match if:

(i) The school is in a district that has been designated by the Department of Education as being in academic distress; and

(ii) The division determines that the school is unable to provide the local-to-state match requirement after the division has assisted the school in identifying potential funding sources to provide local-to-state match requirements.

(B) The local match may consist of cash or appropriate in-kind services.

(b) In order to be considered, an application must contain all information required by the Department of Education's regulatory guidelines.

(c) (1) In allocating funding for the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success Program, priority consideration shall be given to:

(A) Schools that have seventy-five percent (75%) or more students scoring below proficiency on the primary benchmark exams or other exams designated by the Department of Education in the preceding two (2) school years; and

(B) Schools that have been designated by the Department of Education as being in school improvement status under § 6-15-425 or are located in a school district in academic distress.

(2) The goal of the state is to make available an Arkansas Better Chance for School Success Program for an additional one-fifth (1/5) of the qualifying students each year over a period of five (5) years, at which time programs shall be available in all schools statewide.

(3) The priority considerations for funding under the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success Program shall not affect the funding of the Arkansas Better Chance Program and shall not create any priority for funding the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success Program over the Arkansas Better Chance Program.

(4) Any programs given priority consideration under this subsection shall continue to receive priority funding as necessary to continue an established program even though the criteria under subdivision (c)(1) of this section no longer exist for that school district.