Assembly Bill A9128

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9128
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 8, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Education
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the education law, in relation to grant programs for
   facilities providing prekindergarten services
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Legislative intent. The legislature hereby recognizes and
 acknowledges the significant financial and logistical  challenges  faced
 by  New  York  families  in  accessing and affording child care services
 across the state. The legislature further acknowledges  that  prekinder-
 garten  programs  offer  a  viable alternative to traditional child care
 settings, providing children with a strong social and  academic  founda-
 tion  before  entering  kindergarten  level  classes.  Additionally, the
 legislature acknowledges the  crucial  role  played  by  community-based
 organizations  and  other  educational  service  providers in delivering
 high-quality prekindergarten services to an increasing number  of  fami-
 lies. Recognizing the importance of these community partners, the legis-
 lature  emphasizes  the  need to ensure the financial viability of these
 organizations as the state expands access to prekindergarten  education.
 In  addition  to  the  provisions  outlined in this act, the legislature
 hereby calls on the commissioner of education to identify strategies for
 enhancing and streamlining the  operations  of  eligible  agencies  that
 provide  prekindergarten  services,  including  facilitating access to a
 repository of qualified early childhood  education  professionals,  with
 the  aim  of  improving  the recruitment and retention of highly skilled
 employees,  and  identifying  methods  to  minimize  overhead   expenses
 incurred by eligible agencies.
   §  2. The opening paragraph of subdivision 10 of section 3602-e of the
 education law is amended by adding a new subparagraph  (x)  to  read  as
 follows:
   (X)  FOR THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE SCHOOL
 YEAR AND THEREAFTER, EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A
 GRANT AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT PROVIDED UNDER  SUBPARA-
 GRAPH  (IX)  OF  THIS  PARAGRAPH OR THE PRODUCT OF: (1) THE SUM OF:  (A)
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD13889-01-3
 A. 9128                             2
 
 ELIGIBLE HALF-DAY THREE-YEAR-OLD PREKINDERGARTEN PUPILS WEIGHTED AT  0.5
 AS  DEFINED  IN  CLAUSE TWO OF SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF PARAGRAPH B OF THIS
 SUBDIVISION, (B) ELIGIBLE FULL-DAY THREE-YEAR-OLD PREKINDERGARTEN PUPILS
 AS  DEFINED  IN  CLAUSE  TWO OF SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OF PARAGRAPH B OF THIS
 SUBDIVISION, (C) ELIGIBLE HALF-DAY FOUR-YEAR-OLD PREKINDERGARTEN  PUPILS
 WEIGHTED  AT 0.5 AS DEFINED IN CLAUSE ONE OF SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF PARA-
 GRAPH B OF THIS SUBDIVISION, AND  (D)  ELIGIBLE  FULL-DAY  FOUR-YEAR-OLD
 PREKINDERGARTEN  PUPILS AS DEFINED IN CLAUSE ONE OF SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OF
 PARAGRAPH B OF THIS SUBDIVISION, MULTIPLIED BY  (2)  SIX  THOUSAND  FOUR
 HUNDRED  DOLLARS;  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT THE MAXIMUM GRANT SHALL NOT
 EXCEED THE TOTAL  ACTUAL  GRANT  EXPENDITURES  INCURRED  BY  THE  SCHOOL
 DISTRICT  IN  THE  CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, AS APPROVED BY THE COMMISSIONER;
 AND PROVIDED, FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THE LAW TO
 THE CONTRARY, THAT THE DOLLAR AMOUNT SET FORTH IN THIS CLAUSE  SHALL  BE
 ADJUSTED  ANNUALLY  TO  REFLECT  THE PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN THE CONSUMER
 PRICE INDEX, AS DEFINED BY PARAGRAPH HH OF SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF  SECTION
 THREE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED TWO OF THIS PART.
   §  3.  Paragraph e of subdivision 5 of section 3602-e of the education
 law, as amended by section 19 of part B of chapter 57  of  the  laws  of
 2007, is amended to read as follows:
   e. Not less than [ten] FIFTEEN percent of the total grant award to the
 school district shall be set aside for collaborative efforts with eligi-
 ble  agencies,  provided  that the commissioner may waive such set aside
 requirement based upon documented evidence that the school district  was
 unable  to  use  the  set aside to make a collaborative arrangement that
 would meet all requirements of this subdivision because of unavailabili-
 ty of eligible agencies willing to collaborate or other  factors  beyond
 the  control  of the school district, or for school districts which have
 fully implemented a universal prekindergarten  program  by  serving  all
 eligible  [four year olds] FOUR-YEAR-OLDS in the nineteen hundred [nine-
 ty-eight--ninety-nine] NINETY-EIGHT--NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-NINE school
 year and due to parental choice the ten percent  set  aside  requirement
 exceeds  the  total  of the district's aid per kindergarten pupil multi-
 plied  by  the  number  of  pre-kindergarten  pupils  in   collaborative
 programs.  In such cases, school districts shall set aside, for collabo-
 rative efforts with eligible agencies, the total of the  district's  aid
 per  kindergarten  pupil  multiplied  by  the  number of prekindergarten
 pupils in collaborative programs.
   § 4. Subdivision 5 of section 3602-e of the education law  is  amended
 by adding a new paragraph g to read as follows:
   G.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY PROVISION OF THE LAW TO CONTRARY, THE COMMIS-
 SIONER SHALL CONSULT  WITH  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  CHILDREN  AND  FAMILY
 SERVICES TO REQUIRE THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND ELIGIBLE AGENCIES ADMINIS-
 TERING  A PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH E OF THIS SUBDI-
 VISION WHICH SHALL  FOLLOW  EQUIVALENT  STANDARDS  RELATING  TO  MINIMUM
 TEACHER TO STUDENT SUPERVISION RATIOS AND MAXIMUM CLASS SIZES.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.