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Abbott requirements, but are nevertheless a proper part of a preschool program. As the record stands, I CONCLUDEthat it is not possible to find that the DOE has acted in a reasonable and compliant manner. As the districts and Department confront the new school year and beyond the DOE must work with the districts and Head Start programs on both the local and statewide levels to cooperate so as to allow the districts to make maximum use of Head Start as an integral part of the districts' delivery of Abbott-quality education for preschoolers. In that effort, and especially to the extent that the Department is itself a participant in arranging any statewide agreement, the DOE must carefully assess the real needs of districts, students and specific providers, requiring districts to cooperate fully in the effort. It must document its actions and assessments, and, to the extent that the efforts are unsuccessful, must clearly explain to the districts involved and to the public the reasons why the Head Start program will not be a part of the process, just as it announced so publicly that it would be. If the issue is financial, then there must be a clear, documented review and assessment of the reasons why no agreement was possible, including an evaluation of the needs identified, the resources offered and the reasons, to the extent known, why the offers were not deemed acceptable and sufficient. Without these elements, it will be difficult to determine whether the agency has acted in accordance with the regulations and the Court's intentions.

As for the ELC's concerns regarding an alleged failure of the DOE to assure that districts are not denying preschool to children because of their parental status, the Court addressed this issue only in regard to concerns about the denial of services to children whose parents were excluded from Head Start due to their having dropped out of the TANF program. No other incidence of parental-status-based exclusion was addressed. The Court has spoken plainly on this:children cannot be excluded from a district's preschool programs simply because their parents have withdrawn from TANF and the children are consequently barred from Head Start. These children are fully entitled to a preschool education and the district must provide for them. The DOE did not adopt a