N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-54.1 — Preschool expansion grants, annual opportunity, criteria.

18A:7F-54.1 Preschool expansion grants, annual opportunity, criteria. 6. a. The Department of Education shall, within the limit of funds appropriated, annually provide at least one opportunity to award preschool expansion grants in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2025, c.100 (C.18A:44-7 et al.). A school district shall be eligible to apply for and receive a preschool expansion grant if the district provides full-day kindergarten at the time of application and meets any other criteria the Commissioner of Education deems appropriate. An eligible school district shall submit an application to the commissioner, in a manner and form determined by the commissioner, which application shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) a general overview of the district's proposed preschool program operational plan; (2) enrollment projections for preschool students, other than preschool students with disabilities, for the next five years; (3) a description of the district's proposed preschool curriculum; (4) a description of intended strategies to ensure the inclusion of preschool children with disabilities in general education settings to the maximum extent possible; (5) a description of intended strategies to annually identify and recruit families of at-risk pupils and other hard-to-reach populations and subsequently ensure these children receive priority placement in the preschool program; (6) a demonstration of due diligence to partner with all ready, willing, and able licensed child care providers and Head Start programs in the district's immediate and neighboring communities, which shall be made in a manner determined by the commissioner and shall include, but not be limited to, documenting all efforts the applicant made to engage with all licensed child care providers and Head Start programs in the applicant's immediate and neighboring communities; (7) an analysis of community need and the potential impact of a mixed delivery model of preschool education in a format determined by the commissioner or, if the applicant does not propose a mixed delivery model, justification for the decision not to do so, which justification shall include evidence that the district has adequate facility and staffing resources to implement high-quality preschool education without a mixed delivery model or that extenuating circumstances in the eligible school district's community limit accessibility to, or feasibility of partnership with, licensed childcare centers and Head Start programs; and (8) a description of the strategies the district has in place for serving eligible preschool students, with a five-year plan to serve 90 percent of the district's universe of three- and four-year olds. b. In determining preschool expansion grant amounts and recipients, the commissioner shall give preference to districts in accordance with the concentration of at-risk pupils, as defined in section 3 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-45). Preference given pursuant to this subsection shall ensure that, all other application criteria being equal, applicants with higher concentrations of at-risk students receive funding priority. The commissioner may prioritize applicants representing a consortium of school districts agreeing to make a high-quality preschool program available in all member districts. c. The Department of Education, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Human Services shall maintain on the departments' Internet websites a page that includes: (1) a list of all districts offering State-funded preschool for the school year; (2) a list of all districts eligible to apply for preschool expansion grants for the school year; (3) a list of all licensed child care providers and Head Start programs in each district's community, as well as in neighboring communities; and (4) the contact information for all district-operated preschool programs, licensed child care providers, and Head Start programs. d. The Department of Education, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Human Services shall annually update the information required pursuant to subsection c. of this section no later than July 14 of each year. The Department of Education, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Human Services shall update the information required pursuant to subsection c. of this section in a timely manner after any preschool expansion grants are awarded. L.2025, c.100, s.6.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-54.1, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.