Greenville School Department Receives $114,000 Grant to Establish Pre-K Program

Governor Janet Mills announced that 14 school administrative units will receive a total of $2.7 million in grants from the Maine Department of Education to create or expand pre-K programs this year.

The Greenville School Department is one of five grant recipients receiving funds to establish a new pre-K program. The Greenville grant is $114,321.

The grants, which are the first of two rounds of the Governor’s Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, will increase the availability and accessibility of pre-K for more than 500 children across Maine. A second round of $6.3 million in grants — representing a total investment of $10 million in the Governor’s Jobs Plan Pre-K — will be awarded later this year for programs beginning in the fall. 2023.

“Expanding pre-kindergarten and child care opportunities is a top priority for my administration, which is why it’s one of the goals of my Maine jobs and recovery plan,” Mills said. “Preschool better prepares children to succeed in school while helping parents better balance the day-to-day demands of childcare and their work – it’s a win-win situation. I am happy to award these funds through the Department of Education, and we will continue to work hard to make pre-K more available and accessible.

“The Pre-K Expansion Grants are another step toward realizing Governor Mills’ vision to ensure all students have access to high-quality early learning experiences,” said Pender Makin, Commissioner of the MDOE. “I am proud of our early learning team at the Department of Education, who will continue to support Maine schools in developing, expanding and implementing exceptional programs for our youngest learners.

“We are very pleased to be the recipients of the Pre-K Expansion Grant, as we currently do not have a pre-K program at our small, rural K-12 school,” said Greenville Superintendent Kelly. MacFadyen. “This grant will give us the opportunity to implement a high quality, full day preschool program for our 4 year olds. We hope to remove barriers for families, such as cost, transportation and child care.

School administrative units will use the grants to purchase or renovate facility space; supporting staff recruitment and training; or pay other start-up costs necessary to create new pre-K programs, expand the capacity or schedules of existing programs, or reinstate past programs. The MDOE provides preliminary grants, which are subject to change pending school budget discussions, as follows:

The subsidized school administrative units were selected by competition of the MDOE, with priority given to programs that serve students from disadvantaged backgrounds and partner with community organizations to further support students and families. Six school administrative units will partner with Head Starts or other community providers through their pre-K programs.

Public pre-kindergarten programs have been proven to promote child development and create long-term positive impacts. A 2019 study by the Learning Policy Institute on the impacts of pre-kindergarten found that investments in early childhood education enhance student achievement and have positive impacts on children’s early literacy, math, and social-emotional skills.

The Learning Policy Institute’s 2019 study also found established economic benefits of kindergarten, with analysis showing that high-quality preschool programs can yield up to $17 for every dollar invested when lifelong outcomes are considered. .

Since taking office, the Mills administration has invested an additional $5.4 million in public pre-K programs in Maine as well as an additional $7 million in grants to offset the local share for public pre-K , resulting in 90 additional pre-K classrooms. across the state. There are approximately 12,500 children in Maine now eligible for pre-K, with 5,500 enrolled in existing public pre-K programs in 152 school administrative units.

the Maine jobs and recovery plan is the Governor’s plan, approved by the Legislative Assembly, to invest nearly $1 billion in US Federal Bailout funds to achieve three goals: immediate economic recovery from the pandemic; long-term economic growth for Maine; and infrastructure revitalization.

It is largely based on the recommendations of the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee and the Ten-Year State Economic Development Strategyturning them into concrete actions to improve the lives of Maine residents and strengthen the economy.

Investments in early childhood education and care were key recommendations of the Economic Recovery Committee and Economic Development Strategy to attract families to Maine, keep parents in the workforce and help employers find and retain employees.

In addition to the public pre-K, another initiative of Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan Invest $10 million to help Maine communities renovate, expand or build new child care centers and expand early childhood education programs.

These efforts complement the Governor’s historic commitment Maine Child Care Plan which is using about $120 million in US bailout funds dedicated to child care — in addition to $50 million in aid from the previous COVID-19 pandemic — to help the child care system in the Maine to recover and improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of long-term child care.

These investments build on the Mills administration’s efforts to support Maine children and families before and during the pandemic, including helping low-income parents who receive subsidies by waiving their child care contribution. children, distributing $10 million in federal CARES Act funding directly to providers through stipends and grants, and making $8.4 million available in coronavirus relief funds to repay providers of business costs related to COVID-19. The state also maintains the Child Care Choices Websitewhich allows families to locate and contact providers in their area.

In 2019 Gov. Mills Maine Children’s Cabinet Reinvigoratedwho continues to work to ensure that Maine’s children enter kindergarten ready to succeed, and that Maine’s youth enter adulthood healthy, connected to the workforce and/or education.