ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HB 2645: appropriations; early childhood; block grants

S/E: appropriations; preschool grant program; education

PRIME SPONSOR: Representative Lieberman, LD 28

BILL STATUS: Appropriations

Summary of Strike-Everything Amendment to HB 2645

Overview

Establishes a competitive preschool grant program under the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).

History

The K-12 school financing formula established in statute only provides funding to school districts and charter schools that have preschool programs for children with disabilities (A.R.S. §§ 15-901(B)(23) and 15-943).

Additionally, statute has established a state block grant for early childhood education program within the State Board of Education that provided funding to each charter school or school district based on the number pupils in K-3 programs who were eligible for free lunches under the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Acts. Statute also established several requirements for a school district or charter school that devotes part or all of its program funding to preschool programs (A.R.S. § 15-1251). However, this program has not been funded since FY 2011.

Provisions

1. Appropriates $2,000,000 from the General Fund to ADE in Fiscal Years 2019-2022 for the competitive preschool grant program (program).

2. Requires ADE to establish the program to help public and private preschools provide high quality, full day, full year, programs to low income children who are four years old.

3. Mandates ADE to develop a plan to implement the program, which includes goals for the program and how the goals will be measured.

4. Allows ADE to retain up to 5% of appropriated monies to administer and evaluate the program, and to use up to $500,000 of appropriated monies to conduct an online early learning program for children in rural areas.

5. Requires ADE to award a contract on a competitive basis to a provider to administer the online early learning program if ADE conducts an online early learning program.

6. Specifies that the provider must be a nonprofit organization exempted from the 501(c)(3) tax code and can demonstrate past success conducting an online early learning program.

7. Terminates the program on December 31, 2022.

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11. Fifty-fourth Legislature                       HB 2645

12. First Regular Session                            Version 1: Appropriations

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