Promotes the inclusion of children living in temporary housing in prekindergarten programs; requires school districts to prioritize homeless children on any pre-K waitlists and provides for the reimbursement to school districts of hiring additional staff to accommodate the enrollment of a homeless child.
Bill A 4600 aims to strengthen the financial viability of facilities providing prekindergarten services in New York. Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, it modifies how state grants are calculated for school districts, providing funds based on the number of three- and four-year-old pupils served, with a base amount of $6,400 per full-day equivalent pupil, adjusted annually for inflation. The bill also increases the percentage of grant funds school districts must set aside for collaborative efforts with community-based organizations from 10% to 15%. Additionally, it mandates the establishment of equivalent standards for teacher-to-student ratios and class sizes across all prekindergarten programs, whether administered by school districts or partner agencies.
This bill allows preschool special education programs for children with disabilities to save excess funds - up to 1% of annual costs each year, with a cumulative maximum of 4% - into reserve accounts. These funds must be used for approved expenses like paying prior-year debts or future services and automatically increase future funding calculations. Schools must report reserve balances annually to the education department. The changes apply to programs serving preschoolers with disabilities and take effect July 2025.
This bill changes how New York state funds pre-kindergarten programs outside New York City. It repeals a previous funding formula and sets a fixed $300 million annual budget for New York City programs, while requiring that all non-NYC regions receive funding sufficient to cover every qualifying program's slots. The department must use a merit-based scoring system to allocate funds, prioritizing community need and program quality, with payments tied to actual enrolled students. This directly affects public pre-K programs in all upstate regions by guaranteeing full funding for qualified providers.
This bill allows the school districts in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers to provide transportation for students living half a mile or more from school if safety concerns require it, as determined by the state education commissioner. It restricts transportation to routes between students' homes or approved childcare locations, limits coverage to 15 miles per student, and requires equal access for all students in similar circumstances. School districts must report program results, including cost-benefit analysis and impacts on attendance and academic performance, to state officials by 2028. The bill directly affects these four urban school districts and their students, creating a new state-approved transportation program for safety-related needs.
This bill changes how New York State funds pre-kindergarten programs outside New York City. It repeals the previous requirement for competitive selection of programs and instead guarantees funding sufficient to cover all qualifying programs in non-NYC regions. The key change ensures that every eligible pre-K program in these areas receives full funding based on need, rather than competing for limited slots. The bill also maintains the $300 million annual allocation specifically for New York City programs.
Authorizes a weighted selection process prioritizing children who would be eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch and/or who are emergent multilingual learners for the allocation of certain prekindergarten seats in school districts where there are more eligible children than can be served in a given school year.
Promotes the inclusion of children living in temporary housing in prekindergarten programs; requires school districts to prioritize homeless children on any pre-K waitlists and provides for the reimbursement to school districts of hiring additional staff to accommodate the enrollment of a homeless child.
Requires school districts and other facilities providing universal prekindergarten programs utilize all allotted funds for universal prekindergarten programs.
This bill (A 5755) allows school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative educational services to optionally incorporate music and art into prekindergarten programs. It does not require schools to add these subjects, but provides a legal pathway for them to do so. The policy change is limited to authorizing, rather than mandating, arts integration in early childhood education. The bill was referred to the Education committee on February 20, 2025.
