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*hb1475*
HOUSE BILL 1475
F5 5lr3279
By: Delegate Feldmark Delegates Feldmark, Atterbeary, Buckel, Ebersole, Fair,
Griffith, Hartman, Hornberger, Miller, Mireku –North, Palakovich Carr,
Patterson, Roberson, Roberts, Vogel, Wells, Wims, and Wu
Introduced and read first time: February 7, 2025
Assigned to: Ways and Means
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
House action: Adopted
Read second time: March 6, 2025
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Office of Child Care Advisory Council – Publicly Funded Prekindergarten – 2
Analysis and Report 3
(Mixed Delivery Model Viability Act) 4
FOR the purpose of requiring the Office of Child Care Advisory Council within the State 5
Department of Education to conduct an analysis of the mixed delivery, publicly 6
funded prekindergarten system established under the Blueprint for Maryland’s 7
Future; and generally relating to an analysis of the mixed delivery, publicly funded 8
prekindergarten program. 9
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 10
That: 11
(a) The Office of Child Care Advisory Council within the State Department of 12
Education shall conduct an analysis of the mixed delivery, publicly funded prekindergarten 13
system established under Title 7, Subtitle 1A of the Education Article. 14
(b) In conducting the analysis required under subsection (a) of this section, the 15
Council shall review: 16
(1) any discrepancies between State policies that regulate private and 17
public prekindergarten providers, including differences in policies for rests or nap time, 18 2 HOUSE BILL 1475
substitute teachers, and the day–to–day governance of prekindergarten providers 1
identified by the Council; 2
(2) the implementation of the requirements for publicly funded 3
prekindergarten programs under Chapter 165 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2024; 4
(3) the method by which private prekindergarten providers are reimbursed 5
and whether a method of payment through forward funding would be a feasible alternative; 6
(4) inefficiencies in the invoicing process for private prekindergarten 7
providers and delays in private provider payments; 8
(5) whether the timeline for the operation of a prekindergarten educational 9
program required by the Prekindergarten Expansion Grant Program under § 10
7–101.2(c)(1)(iii) of the Education Article matches the typical needs of prekindergarten 11
students and parents; 12
(6) the feasibility of changing the Prekindergarten Expansion Grant 13
Program guidelines after grant agreements have been executed and whether there are 14
appropriate changes that should be made to the guidelines; 15
(7) the process through which quality rating levels in the Maryland 16
EXCELS Program are changed, including: 17
(i) disciplining a prekindergarten provider for an infraction by 18
lowering the quality rating level; 19
(ii) whether, when using a reduction of a prekindergarten provider’s 20
quality rating as a disciplinary measure, the reduction is commensurate with the severity 21
of the infraction; 22
(iii) the process for appealing a change in a prekindergarten 23
provider’s quality rating; 24
(iv) the feasibility of making standardized changes in the quality 25
rating level; and 26
(v) whether there are alternative methods available to address 27
infractions, including methods to deal with infractions caused by a single employee; 28
(8) the administrative processes that a private prekindergarten provider 29
must undertake in order to participate in publicly funded prekindergarten and whether the 30
processes could be streamlined or reduced; 31
(9) the feasibility of streamlining or reducing the administrative processes 32
for enrolling a child in publicly funded prekindergarten; 33
HOUSE BILL 1475 3
(10) the languages in which grant applications, agreements, guidelines, 1
technical support, training, and professional development are offered and whether the 2
languages offered align with those spoken by potential private prekindergarten providers; 3
(11) the languages in which materials provided to parents of children 4
enrolled with a private prekindergarten provider are offered and whether the languages 5
offered align with those spoken by the parents; and 6
(12) opportunities to pool resources among private prekindergarten 7
providers, including employee benefits, creating a centralized substitute teacher pool, and 8
other benefits that might come from economies of scale; 9
(13) challenges for public prekindergarten providers in building or adapting 10
facilities to accommodate prekindergarten students; and 11
(14) how best to use publicly funded prekindergarten to provide a quality 12
early childhood education for students with and without disabilities together in the same 13
classrooms, including by developing methods to best: 14
(i) combine federal, State, and local funding sources available for 15
children in a publicly funded prekindergarten context to maximize support for all children; 16
(ii) improve teacher and staff training and recruitment to address 17
the needs of students with and without disabilities; and 18
(iii) foster collaboration between public and private prekindergarten 19
providers in delivering specialized transportation and services for students with 20
disabilities. 21
(c) In conducting the analysis required under subsection (a) of this section, the 22
Council shall solicit feedback from public prekindergarten providers, private 23
prekindergarten providers, and child care providers who have elected not to participate in 24
the publicly funded prekindergarten program. 25
(d) (1) The Council may consult additional subject matter and policy experts 26
that the Council determines are beneficial in conducting the analysis. 27
(2) The Council may establish subcommittees to carry out the analysis 28
required under this section. 29
(e) (1) On or before June 1, 2026, the Council shall submit to the State Board 30
of Education and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General 31
Assembly, an interim report on the results of its analysis, including recommendations for 32
changes to regulations, policies, and procedures to increase the efficacy of the publicly 33
funded prekindergarten program and to make the program more equitable for providers 34
and families. 35
4 HOUSE BILL 1475
(2) On or before December 31, 2027, the Council shall submit a final report 1
to the General Assembly, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on 2
the results of the analysis conducted under subsection (a) of this section, any changes made 3
by the State Department of Education in response to the recommendations in the interim 4
report, and any additional recommendations from the Council for changes to regulation, 5
policies, procedures, or statute regarding the mixed delivery, publicly funded 6
prekindergarten system. 7
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 8
1, 2025. It shall remain effective for a period of 3 years and, at the end of June 30, 2028, 9
this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and 10
of no further force and effect. 11
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.