Bill
S 339
The bill creates a state grant program to fund high‑quality, full‑day prekindergarten across districts and community partners, prioritizing high‑need and underperforming districts.
Status & key dates
- Bill number: S.339 (filed in Senate docket No. 1762; introduced Jan 30, 2025; filed Jan 16, 2025)
- Current status (as provided): Reported and committed to Finance; hearing scheduled 09/02/2025 (1:00–5:00 PM, A‑2)
- Sponsor (Senate): Sal N. DiDomenico (Middlesex and Suffolk)
Purpose
- Establish a state‑administered grant program to expand and support high‑quality pre‑kindergarten programs for children from age 2 years 9 months through the age they are eligible for kindergarten in their home district.
- Goal: invest in a mixed‑delivery early education system to reduce the achievement gap and improve third‑grade reading outcomes.
What the bill would do — key provisions
- Creates Section 13A in Chapter 15D: the High Quality Pre‑Kindergarten Education Grant Program, to be developed and administered by the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) in consultation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
- Eligible grantees: individual school districts or multi‑district collaborations. Proposals must partner with licensed community‑based early learning programs (i.e., a mixed‑delivery approach).
- Program design and applicant requirements (non‑exhaustive):
- Track preschool students via the state student identifier system.
- Child‑to‑instructor ratio no greater than 10:1; class size maximum of 20 students.
- Full school‑day programming; inclusion of children with disabilities; developmentally and linguistically appropriate, evidence‑based curricula.
- Teacher qualifications, ongoing professional development, and teacher evaluation/professional improvement systems; instructional staff salaries/benefits comparable to K–12 staff in the responding districts.
- Access to comprehensive services onsite or via referral; health and safety standards; accommodations for access/participation.
- Family engagement strategies emphasizing participation by 3‑ and 4‑year‑old families.
- Program evaluation, data collection, timetable for implementation, facility descriptions, and an initial vision/plan for serving birth to age 3.
- Grant award criteria:
- Two primary criteria: Readiness and Need.
- Readiness: EEC‑approved preschool expansion plan, including system assessment, estimates of children entering K with no preschool, family/community needs, local resources, and proposed budgets. All grantees must meet readiness.
- Need: percentage of high‑need students (per DESE definition) in the district; funds awarded from highest to lowest need until yearly funds are exhausted.
- Preference for districts designated as underperforming or chronically underperforming (per chapter 69, section 1J).
- Governance, reporting, accountability:
- Each grantee must create an implementation plan, establish a local governing council to oversee the plan, and submit quarterly reports to EEC.
- Failure to satisfactorily implement the approved plan within the approved timeframe results in termination of the plan and reversion of grant funds to EEC.
- The EEC board must promulgate implementing regulations within six months of the bill’s effective date (including council membership guidelines and evaluation criteria).
- The EEC commissioner must annually evaluate program effectiveness and provide technical assistance for replication.
Who would be affected
- Beneficiaries: young children (approx. ages 2 years, 9 months through kindergarten entry), especially high‑need children and those in underperforming districts.
- Service providers: public school districts, community‑based early learning programs, special education services, family/community service providers.
- Workforce and budgets: early childhood teachers and instructional staff (salary/benefit parity requirement may affect district staffing budgets); EEC and DESE for administration, oversight, and regulatory work.
- Families: increased access to full‑day, high‑quality pre‑K and linked family supports where grants are awarded.
Fiscal and implementation considerations
- The bill establishes program structure and priorities but does not specify appropriation amounts. Expansion depends on annual appropriations and available grant funds.
- Regulatory timeline: EEC must issue regulations within six months of the law taking effect. Grants are to be awarded each fiscal year until funds are exhausted.
- Potentially significant local costs to meet teacher salary parity, facility needs, and full‑day programming—offset by grant funding if appropriated.
Overall impact
- Aims to expand equitable access to high‑quality, full‑day pre‑K through district/community partnerships with accountability, evaluation, and emphasis on serving high‑need and underperforming districts — with implementation and scale contingent on state funding and timely regulatory action.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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