Report: The State of Preschool 2008: State Preschool Yearbook

7 While not required, most programs offer a snack and others offer either breakfast or lunch. Programs that partner with Head Start must follow Head Start requirements for meals.
8 If a teacher is employed by a public school but works in a community setting, the teacher must be paid at the public school salary level.
9 Public schools reimburse employed teachers for professional development and the amount is determined locally.
10 Maine provides additional “targeted funds” for pre-K–grade 2 to local school administrative units. There is not a breakdown of a specific allotment to pre-K. The amount is
based on an additional 10 percent of the unit’s per-pupil reimbursement rate. The amounts for FY 2008 were: $24,103,395 total allocation; $12,387,759 state share;
$11,715,63 local share. Also, some schools may expend federal resources (i.e., Title I) towards preschool programs or non-required local sources.
11 The USDA CACFP funds are used in some partnership programs. Local decisions are made as to what funds are used to support the public pre-K program.
12 Schools are required to provide a local match to draw down their per-pupil state subsidy.
13 Once a public preschool program is approved by the Maine DOE, and operates a minimum of 10 hours per week, a school unit submits its per-pupil count as it would with
K–12 to receives its per-pupil subsidy.
14 More than 50 percent of new programs in the past three years have been initiated in a partnership model. In July 2008, Maine initiated a Collaboration Coach Project to
facilitate this planning process and community approaches for a diverse delivery system.
15 The local match is tied to the school funding formula.
16 The subsidy rate is determined for each individual school unit depending on the school funding formula. If a school partners with Head Start, a school is still reimbursed for
those children who are Head Start eligible. When a school district partners with a child care setting, the amount of contractual funding is determined at a local level.
17 A community program must hold a certificate of quality from the Department of Health and Human Services in order for a school district to partner or subcontract with it.
This certificate is achieved by being at the top star of the QRS.
18 Funds for pre-K go directly to the local school unit. If that unit partners with a child care program for delivery of pre-K, then the school unit contracts with the local program.
The local program’s subsidy amount should not be affected by this contract.
19 Schools must meet all the requirements of basic school approval, which includes a school comprehensive education plan with information about how some monitoring
activities are implemented.
20 Districts need to have plans that include student services, identification of at-risk students, plan for review and development of curriculum aligned with early learning
guidelines, personnel plan to include staff evaluation, supervision, and training and development, maintenance and improvement of school facilities, and all policies and
plans required by law and rule. They also need to have a local assessment system to measure student progress and how data are used.
MARYLAND – Prekindergarten Program 2007-2008
1 Local districts may contract with qualified vendors (accredited child care centers or non-public nursery schools) for prekindergarten.
2 The enrollment total includes 3- and 4-year-olds participating in the Judy Center Partnerships.
3 Funding cannot be blended but can be coordinated. Preschool special education funds are considered “dedicated” funds (i.e., they must be spent for preschool children
with disabilities).
4 Some children in the public school count are subcontracted to private agencies. Program settings are based on an enrollment total of 27,179.
5 In 2007-2008, 44 percent and 56 percent of all prekindergarteners were in full-day and half-day programs, respectively.
6 The state does not fund child care except through child care subsidies for eligible children. Transportation to wrap-around extended-day services is provided by full-day
state pre-K programs. State funds can be used to extend the program to full-day but not for child care wrap-around services.
7 Local boards of education have established regulations for early admission to prekindergarten.
8 Local boards of education may grant waivers on a case-by-case basis.
9 Remaining slots may be filled by enrolling 4-year-old applicants who are not from families with economically disadvantaged backgrounds but who represent a student
population that exhibits a lack of readiness in personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific thinking, social studies, the arts,
physical education, or health education.
10 By policy, 3-year-olds are not eligible, but state child care licensing regulations require a maximum class size of 20 and a staff-child ratio of 1:10. For approved educational
programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, the regulations require a maximum class size of 24 and a staff to child ratio of 1:12.
11 Vision and health screening and referral are the responsibility of the school health services program in conjunction with the health department under Title I, which applies to
all children.
12 All pre-K programs are required to adopt or align a local school system curriculum with Maryland content standards, indicators, and objectives that are identified in the
Maryland Model for School Readiness Framework and Standards for Pre-K /Voluntary State Curriculum for Pre-K.
13 Some in-service requirements may be imposed locally. Pre-K program teachers receive Maryland Model for School Readiness training aligned with Maryland Teachers
Professional Development Standards. In addition, teachers must meet highly qualified teacher requirements under NCLB. Local school systems provide professional
development for classroom assistants.
14 Scholarship programs are available through the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Mentors and literacy coaches are supplied by local school systems.
15 State aid accounts for foundation and compensatory funds. Foundation funds account for all mandatory state aid divided by the number of FTE for K–12. Compensatory
funds account for weights associated with low-income, ELL, and special education students. Local school systems must provide pre-K for all eligible 4-year-olds using state
and/or local funds. As of 2007-2008, there is no dedicated pre-K funding.
16 Two local school systems supplement Head Start funds with local education funds.
MASSACHUSETTS – Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) and Preschool Scholarships 2007-2008
1 Administrative authority is within the Executive Office of Education in the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC).
2 The UPK quality program is in 95 cities and towns.
3 Some children are served in both UPK quality and Preschool Scholarships programs. There were 4,520 children reached through UPK quality, and 17,176 children served on
an average month through Preschool Scholarships.
4 Both the Preschool Scholarships and UPK quality grants may be used to support inclusive programming.
5 Preschool Scholarships programs may operate 2.5 to 10 hours per day, 2 to 5 days per week, 9 to 12 months a year, depending on families’ needs and preferences. At least
one-third of the children served statewide must be served in full-day, full-year programs. UPK quality grantees are required to provide or facilitate access to full-day and fullyear
programs.
6 UPK quality funds can be used to extend hours of operation or support full-day, full-year services. Preschool Scholarship funds may be used to provide wrap-around/
extended-day services at Head Start or public school programs.
7 Children are no longer eligible for prekindergarten when they are eligible to enter kindergarten in the city/town in which they live. Districts determine kindergarten age
eligibility.
8 Children with special needs can remain in the program longer based on school determination.
9 For the UPK quality program, all preschool children in qualifying classrooms are included in the funding formula. For the Preschool Scholarships program, eligibility is based
on age, income, and service need of the family.
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