Committee recommends adoption of new pre-K sliding scale; tiered family contributions capped at 7% of income

The Education, Transformation and Finance Committee of the Maryland State Board of Education voted to recommend that the full board adopt a new five-level sliding scale for state-funded pre-K family contributions, committee chair Crawford said at the end of the committee’s Jan. 8, 2025 public session.

Maryland Department of Education staff presented a proposal to determine family eligibility and shares using tiers tied to federal poverty level (FPL) bands and a family cap of no more than 7% of gross annual income per child. Tara Phillips, executive director for the Division of Early Childhood, said the scale is designed to balance affordability for families with fiscal sustainability for state and local jurisdictions.

The proposed scale groups families into three broad eligibility tiers for FY25–26 and a broader five-level structure starting in FY27. Under the presentation, Tier 1 covers families earning up to 300% of FPL (listed in the presentation as $93,600 for a family of four in FY25) and would receive full-day pre-K at no cost. Tier 2 covers families above 300% FPL and, subject to legislative limits for FY26, families earning 301%–360% of FPL (the BRFAA limits eligibility for state-funded Tier 2 support to up to 360% of FPL for FY26, cited in staff remarks). Tier 3 covers families above 600% of FPL and would pay the full cost.

Donna Gunning, assistant state superintendent of the Office of Finance, explained that the state’s per-pupil rate was accelerated by the legislature in the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFAA), moving an earlier target of roughly $19,950 per pupil from FY30 to FY27. That acceleration, and provider feedback that prior per-pupil estimates undercounted true costs (including transportation and other operating expenses), prompted staff to simplify the scale to five fixed levels rather than requiring individualized family-sharing calculations.

For FY26, staff proposed that the sliding scale apply only to families earning between 301% and 360% of FPL, with family contributions calculated to be roughly $1,447 per child over 10 months (presenters described this as a family-share range of about 1.3% to 1.5% of income for that narrow band). For FY27, when the per-pupil rate rises to $19,950, the scale would expand up to 600% of FPL with modeled family shares that amount to 10%–40% of the per-pupil cost in those tiers; staff emphasized the policy constraint that no family’s contribution should exceed 7% of their gross income per child.

Dr. Matt Duque, director of the Office of Research, and staff said the department is developing a web-based calculator and a distributable file providers can use to place children into tiers based on household size, income, homelessness status, disability or multilingual learner status. Staff said providers must still verify family income to determine tier placement, but the five-level structure reduces the number of unique calculations and administrative variability. Presenters said they plan internal testing, then monitoring during an initial implementation period (recommended 90–120 days) and technical-assistance supports, including a paper backup of the scale.

Committee members asked about the drivers of the rapid increase in per-pupil costs and about implementation burdens on private providers. Mr. Greer and others pressed staff on whether initial cost estimates (referenced to the Kerwin Commission’s work and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future) had undercounted necessary expenses; staff responded that provider feedback, transportation needs and broader economic changes led the legislature to accelerate full funding under the BRFAA.

After public discussion and committee questions, the committee moved to recommend that the full board adopt the department’s proposed sliding scale. The motion was approved by committee members present (committee members voted in favor; roll-call not recorded in the transcript) and was reported as passing unanimously.

The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the full Maryland State Board of Education for a final vote; the department asked the committee to recommend adoption for implementation in school year 2025–26.