Three Ocean School Districts Receive Free Preschool Funding

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - The Berkeley Township school district is the biggest recipient in southern Ocean County of the state's new Preschool Education Expansion Aid.

Berkeley will receive $2,264,383 in funds for several free preschool classes in the district. Stafford Township will receive $1,245,471 and Lakehurst will receive $376,890, according to Gov. Phil Murphy's office.

The funds come courtesy of Murphy's fiscal year 2019 budget, which included a total of $50 million for Preschool Education Expansion Aid (PEEA), and another $33 million for preschool education aid for 31 eligible districts.

“By investing in early childhood education, we are making a long-term investment in the next generation,” Murphy said. “Every child deserves the opportunity to have access to quality pre-K programs and this funding will provide our children with the tools and support they need to reach their greatest potential."

The PEEA funding is based on the number of low-income students in school districts. The money will support existing preschool programs to provide high-quality programming by extending the hours, decreasing class size, and adding additional children. The districts will improve seats for 1,218 preschool children and will open new seats for 882 new preschool children, according to Murphy's office.

Preschool expansion aid will be divided into two rounds, with New Jersey Department of Education expected to award the second round of PEEA funding in early October.

For the first round of PEEA, the state targeted districts that have previously received partial state aid and could implement expansion plans by October 2018. The second round of funding will target districts with a Free and Reduced Lunch percentage above 20 percent that have not previously received any state preschool aid.

“We know that for every dollar we invest in early childhood education, we save $7 in tax payer money down the line,”said Senator Teresa Ruiz, who chairs the Senate Education Committee. “This announcement made by Governor Murphy secures the funding promised by the governor and the Legislature to expand early childhood education, an investment in our children and our state. I applaud the Governor and his administration for dedicating this funding, and moving us towards a New Jersey that has high quality preschool programs for its earliest learners.”

NJDOE received 31 applications from 117 eligible school districts and is currently reviewing those applications. The total request for round two funding is over $26.7 million.

Research over the past several decades has consistently shown that children who attend high-quality early childhood education programs are less likely to be placed in special education, less likely to be retained in a grade, and more likely to graduate from high school than peers who didn’t attend such programs.

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