Committee advances LD 2114 to allow school units to offer preschool to 3‑year‑olds with guardrails
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Summary
Analysts and DOE staff told the committee LD 2114 would let school administrative units (SAUs) offer public preschool programming to 3‑year‑olds if they choose, clarify mixed‑delivery and special‑education rules, and add data/reporting considerations; the committee voted 7–3 to pass as amended clarifying eligible 3‑year‑olds are those "not been identified as a student with a disability."
Analyst Maura presented a blue‑bill breakdown of LD 2114, an act to allow SAUs to offer public preschool to 3‑year‑olds as well as 4‑year‑olds. The analyst described that the bill inserts the words "3 or 4 years of age" across multiple statutory sections and noted there are roughly 15 statutory sections affected.
Dr. Laura Cyr (Maine Department of Education) clarified that the bill does not include start‑up funding; rather, it extends existing statutory language so that if startup funding becomes available (federal or state), SAUs could use it for 3‑year‑old programming as well as 4‑year‑old programming. DOJ/DOE staff described the mixed‑delivery model and Head Start partnerships (33 SAU partnerships supporting 72 pre‑K classrooms statewide) as pathways for SAUs without capacity to offer services directly. The department said decisions about opening programs for typically developing 3‑year‑olds remain at SAU discretion, and special education/IEP protections are unchanged.
Committee members raised equity and fiscal concerns: whether wealthier districts could afford to enroll general‑education 3‑year‑olds, how many children might enroll, transportation burdens, facility and staffing needs, reporting and data to inform the EPS funding formula, and potential unintended fiscal obligations if enrollment grows. Dr. Cyr said the bill is designed to gather information about need rather than create an immediate funding mandate, and that reports (annual pre‑K report and CDS transition report) will collect the data needed to evaluate future funding decisions.
Representative Dodge moved and the committee adopted an amendment adding language after section 13 to clarify that the provision applying to 3‑year‑olds concerns those "not been identified as a student with a disability." The motion to report the bill "ought to pass as amended" carried 7–3 with a minority "ought not to pass" report.
Next steps: LD 2114 will be printed for public hearing and return to the committee for work session where staff will provide requested data on comparative state practices and any fiscal implications.
