HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTES ON KINDERGARTEN AID BILL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 29, 2008

Contact: Rep. Emma Rous, (603) 271-3334

Rep. Linda Foster, (603) 271-3371

HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTES ON

KINDERGARTEN AID BILL

CONCORD – The House Finance Committee voted today for legislation that will help districts pay for the start-up costs for adding public kindergarten. Senate Bill 530 now goes to the House floor.

 “Kindergarten is a necessary stepping stone to a successful education,” said Rep. Emma Rous (D-Durham), Chair of the House Education Committee. “This legislation enables communities that do not currently have kindergarten to create the infrastructure they need to educate all students.”

An amendment to the bill brought forth in the Finance Committee, which also passed today, gives school districts a “transition” period of four years in which to implement public kindergarten. During that time, a district has the option of using portable classrooms, constructing classroom space immediately, or contracting out to a public or private kindergarten.

If a district contracts out kindergarten to another public school or private entity, the contractor must fulfill the same Department of Education standards that a public school is required to meet. Parents will not have to pay an extra cost, and neither will the state – the district will receive the same amount of money that a district with regular public kindergarten would receive. The school district will handle contracts with private kindergartens. This contracting option has a sunset period of four years.

“We want to provide options to towns that do not currently have kindergarten,” said Linda Foster (D-Mont Vernon), a member of the Finance Committee and Deputy Speaker of the House. “This is not a voucher system. Allowing school districts to contract with private kindergarten for a limited period of time is one way to help the transition – and this option already exists under state law. Public kindergarten for all New Hampshire students has been and remains a priority.”

This bill also:

·         Extends the kindergarten construction aid program through June 30, 2013.

·         Allows a school district to choose between a construction grant to cover either 75 percent of the actual cost of construction of kindergarten facilities, or 100 percent of the actual cost of design and construction of a basic code compliant kindergarten facility.

·         Requires certain school districts to submit a kindergarten implementation plan to the commissioner of the department of education detailing the district’s plan to provide a public kindergarten program no later than September 2009. This is a one year extension from the previous date.

Only 12 districts in New Hampshire do not offer public kindergarten. Senate Bill 530 was based on the recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Costing an Adequate Education.