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*hb1475*
HOUSE BILL 1475
F5 (5lr3279)
ENROLLED BILL
— Ways and Means/Education, Energy, and the Environment —
Introduced 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
Read and Examined by Proofreaders:
_______________________________________________
Proofreader.
_______________________________________________
Proofreader.
Sealed with the Great Seal and presented to the Governor, for his approval this
_______ day of _______________ at ________________________ o’clock, ________M.
______________________________________________
Speaker.
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Office of Child Care Advisory Council Maryland State Department of Education 2
– Publicly Funded Prekindergarten – 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 convene a specified workgroup to conduct an analysis of 6
the mixed delivery, publicly funded prekindergarten system established under the 7
Blueprint for Maryland’s Future; and generally relating to an analysis of the mixed 8
delivery, publicly funded prekindergarten program. 9
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 10
That: 11
2 HOUSE BILL 1475
(a) The Office of Child Care Advisory Council within the State Department of 1
Education shall convene a workgroup to conduct an analysis of the mixed delivery, publicly 2
funded prekindergarten system established under Title 7, Subtitle 1A of the Education 3
Article. 4
(b) The workgroup shall consist of the following members: 5
(1) one member of the Senate of Maryland, appointed by the President of the 6
Senate; 7
(2) one member of the House of Delegates, appointed by the Speaker of the 8
House; 9
(3) at least one representative from each of the following entities, designated 10
by the State Superintendent of Schools: 11
(i) the State Department of Education; 12
(ii) the Maryland Department of Health; 13
(iii) the Head Start Program; 14
(iv) the Office of the State Fire Marshal; 15
(v) a child care advocacy organization; and 16
(vi) a community college with an early childhood education program; 17
(4) at least two family child care providers, designated by the State 18
Superintendent; and 19
(5) at least two child care providers from child care centers, designated by 20
the State Superintendent. 21
(b) (c) In conducting the analysis required under subsection (a) of this section, the 22
Council workgroup shall review: 23
(1) any discrepancies between State policies that regulate private and 24
public prekindergarten providers, including differences in policies for rests or nap time, 25
substitute teachers, and the day–to–day governance of prekindergarten providers 26
identified by the Council workgroup; 27
(2) the implementation of the requirements for publicly funded 28
prekindergarten programs under Chapter 165 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2024; 29
(3) the method by which private prekindergarten providers are reimbursed 30
and whether a method of payment through forward funding would be a feasible alternative; 31 HOUSE BILL 1475 3
(4) inefficiencies in the invoicing process for private prekindergarten 1
providers and delays in private provider payments; 2
(5) whether the timeline for the operation of a prekindergarten educational 3
program required by the Prekindergarten Expansion Grant Program under § 4
7–101.2(c)(1)(iii) of the Education Article matches the typical needs of prekindergarten 5
students and parents; 6
(6) the feasibility of changing the Prekindergarten Expansion Grant 7
Program guidelines after grant agreements have been executed and whether there are 8
appropriate changes that should be made to the guidelines; 9
(7) the process through which quality rating levels in the Maryland 10
EXCELS Program are changed, including: 11
(i) disciplining a prekindergarten provider for an infraction by 12
lowering the quality rating level; 13
(ii) whether, when using a reduction of a prekindergarten provider’s 14
quality rating as a disciplinary measure, the reduction is commensurate with the severity 15
of the infraction; 16
(iii) the process for appealing a change in a prekindergarten 17
provider’s quality rating; 18
(iv) the feasibility of making standardized changes in the quality 19
rating level; and 20
(v) whether there are alternative methods available to address 21
infractions, including methods to deal with infractions caused by a single employee; 22
(8) the administrative processes that a private prekindergarten provider 23
must undertake in order to participate in publicly funded prekindergarten and whether the 24
processes could be streamlined or reduced; 25
(9) the feasibility of streamlining or reducing the administrative processes 26
for enrolling a child in publicly funded prekindergarten; 27
(10) the languages in which grant applications, agreements, guidelines, 28
technical support, training, and professional development are offered and whether the 29
languages offered align with those spoken by potential private prekindergarten providers; 30
(11) the languages in which materials provided to parents of children 31
enrolled with a private prekindergarten provider are offered and whether the languages 32
offered align with those spoken by the parents; and 33
4 HOUSE BILL 1475
(12) opportunities to pool resources among private prekindergarten 1
providers, including employee benefits, creating a centralized substitute teacher pool, and 2
other benefits that might come from economies of scale; 3
(13) challenges for public prekindergarten providers in building or adapting 4
facilities to accommodate prekindergarten students; and 5
(14) how best to use publicly funded prekindergarten to provide a quality 6
early childhood education for students with and without disabilities together in the same 7
classrooms, including by developing methods to best: 8
(i) combine federal, State, and local funding sources available for 9
children in a publicly funded prekindergarten context to maximize support for all children; 10
(ii) improve teacher and staff training and recruitment to address 11
the needs of students with and without disabilities; and 12
(iii) foster collaboration between public and private prekindergarten 13
providers in delivering specialized transportation and services for students with 14
disabilities. 15
(c) (d) In conducting the analysis required under subsection (a) of this section, the 16
Council workgroup shall solicit feedback from public prekindergarten providers, private 17
prekindergarten providers, and child care providers who have elected not to participate in 18
the publicly funded prekindergarten program. 19
(d) (e) (1) The Council workgroup may consult additional subject matter and 20
policy experts that the Council determines are beneficial in conducting the analysis. 21
(2) The Council workgroup may establish subcommittees to carry out the 22
analysis required under this section. 23
(e) (f) (1) On or before June 1, 2026, the Council workgroup shall submit to the 24
State Board of Education and the Accountability and Implementation Board and, in 25
accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly, an 26
interim report on the results of its analysis, including recommendations for changes to 27
regulations, policies, and procedures to increase the efficacy of the publicly funded 28
prekindergarten program and to make the program more equitable for providers and 29
families. 30
(2) On or before December 31, 2027, the Council workgroup shall submit a 31
final report to the Accountability and Implementation Board and the General Assembly, in 32
accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on the results of the analysis 33
conducted under subsection (a) of this section, any changes made by the State Department 34
of Education in response to the recommendations in the interim report, and any additional 35
recommendations from the Council workgroup for changes to regulation, policies, 36 HOUSE BILL 1475 5
procedures, or statute regarding the mixed delivery, publicly funded prekindergarten 1
system. 2
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 3
1, 2025. It shall remain effective for a period of 3 years and, at the end of June 30, 2028, 4
this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and 5
of no further force and effect. 6
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.