Budget woes be damned!

At a State Board of Education subcommittee meeting this morning, Mr. John Pruette, Executive Director of the Office of School Readiness, discussed his request for additional More at Four funds.

How much? Option I is “built upon the premise that the state should provide funds necessary to maintain a diverse delivery system as well as high quality for all programs participating.” The current $5,000 per child subsidy would increase to $6,150 – $8,500 per child. Currently, there are 32,122 slots funded.

The state would need to pump tens of millions of dollars into More at Four to pay for the increase OR decrease the number of slots by 6,000 – 8,000.

Option II would tweak the funding methodology. The Office of School Readiness did not outline the fiscal impact of the change.