State Gives Grants to 4 Local Full-Day Pre-K Programs

Written by Lanning Taliaferro

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the recipients of $340 million in full-day pre-kindergarten funding for 81 school districts and Community Based Organizations statewide, opening full-day classroom slots to nearly 37,000 children.

Local recipients include the Catholic School Region of Central Westchester, Easter Seals in Yorktown, and the Ossining and White Plains districts.

The state has committed to invest $1.5 billion over five years to build a Statewide Universal Full-Day Pre-Kindergarten program, and to do it by encouraging innovation and creativity through competition for the grant money.

“The importance of early childhood education cannot be overstated,” said Timothy Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association. “Providing early learning opportunities for three- and four-year old children can help them develop better literacy skills and set the foundation for a successful transition into K-12 education. We look forward to the day when all school districts are providing robust learning experiences for all of our young learners.”

Here are the recipients in the lower Hudson Valley:

Head Start of Rockland, Inc.

$1,029,300

Ossining Union Free School District

$2,142,900

Nyack Union Free School District

$100,000

Ramapo Central School District

$200,000

Catholic School Region of Central Westchester

$2,200,000

Haverstraw-Stony Point Central

$150,000

White Plains Public Schools

$1,073,800

Easter Seals New York, Inc. (Yorktown)

$160,000

This program represents the largest expansion of Full-Day Pre-Kindergarten in New York State history and is additive to the existing $385 million in UPK funding and the $25 million Full-Day Pre-Kindergarten program proposed and enacted by Governor Cuomo in 2013-14.

The full list of recipients of the $340 million in Statewide Universal Full-Day Pre-Kindergarten program is available here. The awards are preliminary, pending the review and approval of the New York State Comptroller.

Bedford Central School District and Peekskill notified the state in July that they would not be applying for full-day pre-K funding under this program.