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MSDE details pre-K expansion, scholarship wait list and $14.75M preschool development grant
Summary
MSDE updates the State Board committee on pre-K expansion and the child care scholarship: enrollment declined despite growing private-seat awards, a partial scholarship freeze left about 5,000 children on a wait list, and MSDE secured a $14.75 million preschool development grant plus a $500,000 earmark to build enrollment and quality systems.
Maryland Department of Education officials briefed the State Board’s Strategy and Operations Committee on pre-K expansion, the child care scholarship program and related regulatory and systems work.
Dr. Nikia Washington and colleagues told the committee that pre-K enrollment rose through the 2024–25 school year but declined this year even as private-provider seat awards continued to increase; MSDE is studying demographic factors such as lower birth rates and changes in kindergarten enrollment to explain the gap between available seats and family uptake.
On the child care scholarship, MSDE said the program more than doubled the number of children served between 2022 and 2025 but that budget constraints led to a partial enrollment freeze to keep program costs within state allocation. MSDE reported the caseload fell to about 41,000 children and that roughly 5,000 children remain on the scholarship wait list; since the wait list began, the agency has awarded just over 2,000 new scholarships.
Officials described quality and workforce work: most pre-K expansion programs have achieved Maryland EXCELS quality ratings of 3–5, FY27 plans include CLASS assessments to measure teacher–child interactions, and MSDE expanded alternative pathways to meet lead-teacher qualifications.
Regulatory and systems work highlighted two bills and a grant: MSDE is meeting requirements of House Bill 1475 through a pre-K systems analysis work group (interim report due June 1, 2026) and is responding to House Bill 477 with regulatory analysis and stakeholder 'tiger teams.' The agency also announced it secured a one-year federal preschool development grant for $14.75 million and a $500,000 federal earmark to build a centralized pre-K enrollment system.
MSDE emphasized modernization to reduce administrative friction: officials said they will pursue portable background-checks that can cut duplicate checks and speed staff onboarding, and will invest in regional shared-service supports for community providers. The committee asked about enrollment uptake and saturation; MSDE said centralizing enrollment and clearer communications/branding for pre-K programs should help families find and fill seats.
What’s next: MSDE plans further analysis of seat uptake versus eligible children, additional communications to increase family awareness, and continued work on regulatory recommendations and the preschool development grant deliverables.
