Head Start and Pre Kindergarten Expansion

March 16, 2017

I would like to thank my colleagues on the joint ED/HHS committee as well as our partners at Montgomery County Public Schools for supporting my focus on expanding existing half-day Head Start and pre-k programs to full-day for our lowest income children. The committees requested Council staff to identify how investments could be most efficiently targeted in the budget for next year, information that will be very valuable as we conduct our budget review over the next 6-8 weeks. I am hopeful that we can get to the $5 million expansion goal that I have proposed, but we will have to make some tough choices to create resources at that level.

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To:	George Leventhal, Chair, Health and Human Services Committee Craig Rice, Chair, Education Committee & Member, Health and Human Services Committee Nancy Navarro, Member, Education Committee Marc Elrich, Member, Education Committee Council President Roger Berliner, Member, Health and Human Services Committee
From:	Council Vice President Hans Riemer
Date:	March 13, 2017
Re:	Head Start and Pre Kindergarten Expansion

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When this Council passed Bill 13-15 eighteen months ago, we began to build the capacity to plan and implement a major expansion of programs to ensure access to quality, affordable early care and education for every child. Since that bill’s passage, the County has funded and hired a new Child Care Policy Officer in the Department of Health and Human Services and completed a Child Care Strategic Plan. The HHS and ED Committees recently held an exceptionally informative work session to hear from New York City about how they achieved their pre-k expansion, and the Committees instructed the HHS Department to determine how we could undertake a similar “universal” expansion.

With the receipt of OLO Report 2017-7, “Pre-K in Montgomery County and in Other Jurisdictions,” we have several approaches to consider as well as a crucial piece of the puzzle – clear evidence that the benefits of government-funded pre-k, at least for low income students, far outweigh the costs.

I am thrilled that the OLO report includes a series of discrete increments in which we could stage an expansion, with digestible cost estimates. I understand that Council staff intends to work with stakeholders to further define the costs and requirements of the incremental steps laid out in the OLO report.

I seek your support to direct Council staff to identify how we could best invest $5 million in FY18 to provide full-day pre-k for our lowest income children.

Over the past few weeks, my staff and I have conducted our own research and held meetings with staff from HHS, MCPS, and other stakeholders. My office has identified specific high poverty schools and the scope of their existing programs. Some of these schools already offer full-day pre-k, others offer half-day pre-k programs. Combined with the existing full-day slots, I believe $5 million would allow us to offer full day prekindergarten classes to ALL children who qualify for Head Start at all elementary schools, and begin to expand MCPS half-day pre-K to full day at the schools with the greatest concentration of children in poverty. This expansion could be accommodated on site at many schools, but would require some classes be provided through community partners or at other spaces such as Recreation facilities.

The following schools have programs that could readily be expanded.
Expand half-day Head Start to full day for about 250 kids in:
Bells Mill ES
Clearspring ES
College Gardens ES
Drew ES
East Silver Spring ES
Fairland ES
Glenallen ES
Maryvale ES
Montgomery Knolls ES
Christa McAuliffe ES
Strawberry Knoll ES
Twinbrook ES
Viers Mill ES
* Students from families living below 100% of the federal poverty line are eligible for Head Start

Expand half day pre-K to full day at highest FARMS schools for about 185 kids in:
Broad Acres ES
New Hampshire Estates ES
Harmony Hills ES
South Lake ES
* Students from families living below 200% of the federal poverty line are eligible for Pre-K

There are about 435 children in half day Head Start and pre-k programs in these schools. Our estimate is that creating full day Head Start and pre-k for all schools listed above would cost about $5 million, and we believe it can be done in FY18. Nevertheless, a more precise roadmap is required.

Both the OLO report and the HHS’s Department’s Early Care and Education Strategic Plan identify expanding existing half-day pre-K programs to full day as a top priority. The Early Care and Education Strategic Plan states:

I look forward to working with you on this important County Council priority.