Sponsor says amendment would shift private pre-K funding to DCF to ease property-tax burden

Representative Rebecca Holcomb told the Vermont House Education Committee on May 1 that an amendment to H.248 would move tuition payments for pre-kindergarten provided by private child-care providers out of school district education budgets and into the Department for Children and Families (DCF) budget.

“This amendment simply makes DCF pay for childcare in those private providers,” Rep. Rebecca Holcomb said, explaining that the change is intended to reduce pressure on education property-tax rates and to simplify administration for parents and small providers.

Holcomb said the change would not alter in-school pre-K programs offered directly by districts: “If the pre-k program happens at school … it comes out of the [education] budget. If it’s a private provider, it comes out of the DCF budget,” she said. She also emphasized the amendment…