Attention Long Island pre-k parents

Long Island’s 4-year-old prekindergarten students graduated last month, but universal pre-k enrollment here continues to lag other state regions.

Enrollment is growing, but pre-k is not nearly universal on Long Island. In the 2023-24 school year, 63% of eligible 4-year-olds on LI got spots, up from 58% in 2022-23 and up from 31% in 2020. Of the 10 regions across the state, however, Long Island still lands in the bottom three for the percentage of 4-year-olds who get to enroll, according to the Office of Early Learning. Figures for the 2024-25 school year will be released in the fall.

Universal prekindergarten is a state and federally funded program that provides free, full-day pre-k education. However, the funding and execution is -- in the state’s words -- “complicated.” The New York State Department of Education currently administers four separate pre-k programs.

“Each of the four dedicated Prekindergarten funding sources has varying requirements for quality standards and different mechanisms for data collection and reporting,” said the New York State Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning in a report released earlier this year. The 2024-25 state budget called for this study to figure out ways to streamline pre-k funding and give recommendations for legislative action. Its roadmap sees all eligible four-year-olds with full-day pre-k by 2030, and an expansion to full-day for all three-year-olds by 2035, goals of the New York State Board of Regents.

“For UPK to reach universality, several changes need to be considered within the realms of funding and education law,” the report said. “Although the number of prekindergarten students served has grown over the past five years, districts, providers, and the Department have identified challenges to the program, such as availability of appropriate space, insufficient per pupil reimbursement, complex and duplicative laws that govern the same program, as well as incongruent timelines and processes that determine payment and funding.”

The study recommends that the state legislature:

• Merge all universal prekindergarten laws and consolidates funding streams.
• Enact a budget that provides opportunities for additional funding for local school districts, so they can add more slots each year, with a priority given to districts that serve the highest amounts of students in poverty and English Language Learners.
• Use ongoing analysis of per pupil costs and funding requirements to expand services to all eligible students and ensure the blended lottery doesn’t leave out students with disabilities.

All have deadlines of 2025-2026 school year.

“Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association welcomes and supports some of the recommendations in this report,” said president Bob Vecchio. “We look forward to the outcome of the analysis by the Department on what the per pupil allocation for universal prekindergarten services should be to meet the needs of today’s 3- and 4-year-olds. The current rate hasn’t been updated in nearly two decades for Long Island school districts.”

Vecchio is concerned with any reduction in the per pupil allocations that he says already do not reflect today’s cost realities.

“We would support any easing of restrictions on funding allocations to districts to deal with the challenge of finding adequate space to provide these programs,” he said. “The lack of increases to the per pupil allocations and the lack of flexibility on how funds are to be used has resulted in many UPK grant funds to go unspent by districts on Long Island.”