EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb1381*
HOUSE BILL 1381
F5 4lr2518
By: Delegate Reilly
Introduced and read first time: February 9, 2024
Assigned to: Appropriations
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Education – Publicly Funded Prekindergarten – Payments to Private Providers 2
and Building Use 3
FOR the purpose of altering the definition of prekindergarten enrollment for private 4
prekindergarten providers; requiring the State Department of Education to forward 5
fund the State and local share or provide a pay guarantee of not greater than a 6
certain period of time for certain prekindergarten funding; authorizing a county 7
board of education and an eligible private prekindergarten provider to utilize certain 8
spaces for prekindergarten; prohibiting the Interagency Commission on School 9
Construction and the Department from establishing certain prekindergarten space 10
requirements; authorizing a county board to apply for certain funding for 11
prekindergarten spaces; and generally relating to publicly funded prekindergarten. 12
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 13
Article – Education 14
Section 5–229 and 7–1A–07 15
Annotated Code of Maryland 16
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 17
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 18
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 19
Article – Education 20
5–229. 21
(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 22
(2) “County program amount” means, for each county, the product of the 23
per pupil amount and the prekindergarten enrollment. 24
2 HOUSE BILL 1381
(3) “ELIGIBLE PREKINDERGAR TEN PROVIDER” INCLUDES: 1
(I) AN ELIGIBLE PUBLIC KI NDERGARTEN PROVIDER ; AND 2
(II) AN ELIGIBLE PRIVATE K INDERGARTEN PROVIDER . 3
(4) “ELIGIBLE PRIVATE PREK INDERGARTEN PROVIDER ” HAS THE 4
MEANING STATED IN § 7–1A–01 OF THIS ARTICLE. 5
(5) “ELIGIBLE PUBLIC PREKI NDERGARTEN PROVIDER ” HAS THE 6
MEANING STATED IN § 7–1A– 01 OF THIS ARTICLE. 7
[(3)] (6) “Family share” means the amount calculated under subsection 8
(e) of this section rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 9
[(4)] (7) “Local share” means, for each county, the result of the county 10
program amount minus the State share rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 11
[(5)] (8) “Per pupil amount” means: 12
(i) In fiscal year 2023, $10,094; 13
(ii) In fiscal year 2024, $11,594; 14
(iii) In fiscal year 2025, $13,003; 15
(iv) In fiscal year 2026, $14,473; 16
(v) In fiscal year 2027, $15,598; 17
(vi) In fiscal year 2028, $16,811; 18
(vii) In fiscal year 2029, $18,118; 19
(viii) In fiscal year 2030, $19,526; and 20
(ix) In subsequent fiscal years, the per pupil amount for the prior 21
fiscal year increased by the inflation adjustment rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 22
[(6)] (9) (I) “Prekindergarten enrollment” means, FOR PUBLIC 23
PREKINDERGARTEN PROV IDERS: 24
[(i)] 1. Beginning in fiscal year 2023, the number of Tier I 25
children enrolled with an eligible PUBLIC prekindergarten provider; and 26
HOUSE BILL 1381 3
[(ii)] 2. Beginning in fiscal year 2025, the number of Tier I and 1
Tier II children enrolled with an eligible PUBLIC prekindergarten provider. 2
(II) “PREKINDERGARTEN ENROL LMENT” MEANS, FOR PRIVATE 3
PREKINDERGARTEN PROV IDERS: 4
1. FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025, THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF 5
TIER I CHILDREN ENROLLED WITH AN ELI GIBLE PRIVATE PREKIN DERGARTEN 6
PROVIDER IN THE 3 PRIOR SCHOOL YEARS PLUS THE NUMBER OF TIER II CHILDREN 7
ENROLLED WITH AN ELI GIBLE PRIVATE PREKIN DERGARTEN PROVIDER ; 8
2. FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026, THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF 9
TIER I CHILDREN ENROLLED WITH AN ELI GIBLE PRIVATE PREKIN DERGARTEN 10
PROVIDER IN THE 3 PRIOR SCHOOL YEARS PLUS THE AVERAGE NUMBER O F TIER II 11
CHILDREN ENROLLED WITH AN ELI GIBLE PRIVATE PREKIN DERGARTEN PROVIDER 12
IN THE 2 PRIOR SCHOOL YEARS ; AND 13
3. FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027 AND EACH FISCAL YEAR 14
THEREAFTER , THE AVERAGE NUMBER O F TIER I AND TIER II CHILDREN ENROLLED 15
WITH AN ELIGIBLE PRI VATE PREKINDERGARTEN PROVIDER IN THE 3 PRIOR SCHOOL 16
YEARS. 17
[(7)] (10) “State share” means, for each county, rounded to the nearest 18
whole dollar, the following calculations multiplied by 0.5: 19
(i) Multiply the per pupil amount by the county’s prekindergarten 20
enrollment; 21
(ii) Divide the result calculated under item (i) of this paragraph by 22
the ratio, rounded to seven decimal places, of local wealth per pupil to statewide wealth per 23
pupil; and 24
(iii) Multiply the result calculated under item (ii) of this paragraph 25
by the result, rounded to seven decimal places, that results from dividing the total program 26
amount by the sum of all of the results calculated under item (ii) of this paragraph for all 27
counties. 28
[(8)] (11) “Tier I child” has the meaning stated in § 7–1A–01 of this article. 29
[(9)] (12) “Tier II child” has the meaning stated in § 7–1A–01 of this article. 30
[(10)] (13) “Tier III child” has the meaning stated in § 7–1A–01 of this 31
article. 32
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[(11)] (14) “Total program amount” means the product of the per pupil 1
amount and the statewide prekindergarten enrollment. 2
(b) To be eligible for public funding, [a] AN ELIGIBLE prekindergarten provider 3
shall comply with Title 7, Subtitle 1A of this article. 4
(c) (1) (i) As calculated under subsection (d) of this section, there is a State 5
share and local share of the per pupil amount for Tier I children. 6
(ii) There is no family share for Tier I children. 7
(2) As calculated under subsection (e) of this section and beginning in fiscal 8
year 2025, there is a State share, local share, and family share of the per pupil amount for 9
Tier II children. 10
(3) Tier III children are not eligible for funding under this section. 11
(d) (1) For ELIGIBLE public PREKINDERGARTEN providers, each fiscal year: 12
(i) The State shall distribute the State share to each county board; 13
and 14
(ii) The county board shall distribute to each ELIGIBLE public 15
PREKINDERGARTEN provider the minimum school funding amount for prekindergarten 16
calculated under § 5–234 of this subtitle. 17
(2) (I) For ELIGIBLE private PREKINDERGARTEN providers, each 18
fiscal year: 19
[(i)] 1. The State shall distribute the State share for ELIGIBLE 20
private PREKINDERGARTEN providers to the Department; 21
[(ii)] 2. The county shall distribute the local share for ELIGIBLE 22
private PREKINDERGARTEN providers to the Department; and 23
[(iii)] 3. The Department shall distribute the State and local share 24
to the ELIGIBLE private PREKINDERGARTEN providers. 25
(II) FOR ELIGIBLE PRIVATE PREKINDERGARTEN PROV IDERS, 26
THE DEPARTMENT SHALL FORW ARD FUND THE STATE AND LOCAL SHARE TO 27
ELIGIBLE PRIVATE PREKINDERGARTEN PROV IDERS OR PROVIDE A PAY GUARANTEE 28
OF NOT GREATER THAN 30 DAYS. 29
(e) (1) On or before July 1, 2022, the Department shall establish a sliding scale 30
to calculate the family share required for Tier II children. 31
HOUSE BILL 1381 5
(2) The sliding scale developed by the Department shall be increased on a 1
linear basis with: 2
(i) A lower limit of $0 per pupil for a family with an income that is 3
300% of the federal poverty level; and 4
(ii) An upper limit of the per pupil amount for a family with an 5
income that is more than 300% but less than 600% of the federal poverty level. 6
(3) (i) Beginning in fiscal year 2025, the family shall pay the family 7
share to the publicly funded prekindergarten provider. 8
(ii) A county board may provide up to 100% of the family share on 9
behalf of the family. 10
(f) Income–eligible families shall have access to extended day services through 11
the Child Care Scholarship Program under Title 9.5, Subtitle 9 of this article. 12
(g) The Department, county boards, and eligible prekindergarten providers shall 13
work together to address the transportation needs of children enrolled in eligible 14
prekindergarten providers. 15
(h) On or before November 1, 2021, the Department shall report to the 16
Accountability and Implementation Board and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State 17
Government Article, the General Assembly on: 18
(1) Plans for an income verification process to determine eligibility for Tier 19
I, Tier II, or Tier III status of a child; 20
(2) Administrative procedures for distributing the funds required under 21
subsection (d) of this section; 22
(3) (i) Providing families with the ability to indicate a preference for the 23
public or private prekindergarten program in which to enroll the child; and 24
(ii) Communicating with families that the ability to choose to enroll 25
a child in a public provider outside the family’s attendance area is available only for 26
prekindergarten; 27
(4) Recommendations for the methodology the Department will use to 28
calculate the State, local, and family share for Tier II children under the sliding scale 29
developed under subsection (e) of this section; and 30
(5) Recommendations on whether to extend the prekindergarten 31
supplemental grant provided under § 5–232 of this subtitle. 32
7–1A–07. 33 6 HOUSE BILL 1381
(a) (1) The Interagency Commission on School Construction shall prioritize 1
public school construction funding requests for high quality prekindergarten classrooms. 2
(2) The Interagency Commission on School Construction shall consider the 3
availability of private eligible prekindergarten providers when determining priorities 4
under paragraph (1) of this subsection. 5
(b) (1) A county board AND AN ELIGIBLE PRIV ATE PREKINDERGARTEN 6
PROVIDER may partner with the State or the county government to address physical space 7
constraints for eligible prekindergarten providers by utilizing existing available space at a 8
location that is not an eligible prekindergarten provider including: 9
[(1)] (I) Senior care facilities; [or] 10
[(2)] (II) Community centers; 11
(III) COUNTY GOVERNMENT FAC ILITIES; OR 12
(IV) HOSPITALS. 13
(2) THE INTERAGENCY COMMISSION ON SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION 14
AND THE DEPARTMENT MAY NOT ESTABLISH SP ACE REQUIREMENTS FOR 15
PREKINDERGARTEN SPACE IN PUBLIC BUIL DINGS THAT ARE NOT S CHOOLS. 16
(C) (1) A COUNTY BOARD MAY APP LY FOR FUNDING FROM THE CAPITAL 17
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM TO LEASE PUBLIC FACILITIES FOR PREKI NDERGARTEN 18
SPACE. 19
(2) THE MANAGEMENT OF THE LEASED PUBLIC FACILI TY SHALL BE 20
THE RESPONSIBILITY O F THE BUILDING OWNER AND NOT THE COUNTY B OARD. 21
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 22
1, 2024. 23