Maryland HB 1432: Education - Prekindergarten and Withholding of County Board Funding (Blueprint Accountability and Flexibility Act of 2024)

Bill Text

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb1432*

HOUSE BILL 1432
F1 4lr2230
CF SB 1062
By: Delegates Miller, Adams, Arentz, Baker, Bouchat, Buckel, Chisholm, Griffith,
Hartman, Hinebaugh, Hornberger, Howard, Hutchinson, Jacobs, Kipke,
Mangione, McComas, T. Morgan, Munoz, Otto, Pippy, Reilly, Rose, Schmidt,
Stonko, Tomlinson, Valentine, and Wivell
Introduced and read first time: February 9, 2024
Assigned to: Appropriations and Ways and Means

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Education – Prekindergarten and Withholding of County Board Funding 2
(Blueprint Accountability and Flexibility Act of 2024) 3

FOR the purpose of altering certain dates related to the family share for Tier II children in 4
publicly funded prekindergarten; altering certain dates related to the proportion of 5
eligible private provider prekindergarten slots; repealing the authorization for the 6
State Department of Education to exclude by annual waiver Tier I children who are 7
4 years old from a certain prekindergarten slot calculation; establishing a process for 8
the Accountability and Implementation Board to withhold certain funding from a 9
county board of education under certain circumstances; and generally relating to 10
publicly funded prekindergarten and county board of education funding. 11

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
Article – Education 13
Section 5–229(a), (c), and (e), 7–1A–03, and 7–1A–04(a) 14
Annotated Code of Maryland 15
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 16

BY adding to 17
Article – Education 18
Section 5–415 19
Annotated Code of Maryland 20
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 21

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 22
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 23

Article – Education 24

2 HOUSE BILL 1432

5–229. 1

(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 2

(2) “County program amount” means, for each county, the product of the 3
per pupil amount and the prekindergarten enrollment. 4

(3) “Family share” means the amount calculated under subsection (e) of 5
this section rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 6

(4) “Local share” means, for each county, the result of the county program 7
amount minus the State share rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 8

(5) “Per pupil amount” means: 9

(i) In fiscal year 2023, $10,094; 10

(ii) In fiscal year 2024, $11,594; 11

(iii) In fiscal year 2025, $13,003; 12

(iv) In fiscal year 2026, $14,473; 13

(v) In fiscal year 2027, $15,598; 14

(vi) In fiscal year 2028, $16,811; 15

(vii) In fiscal year 2029, $18,118; 16

(viii) In fiscal year 2030, $19,526; and 17

(ix) In subsequent fiscal years, the per pupil amount for the prior 18
fiscal year increased by the inflation adjustment rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 19

(6) “Prekindergarten enrollment” means: 20

(i) Beginning in fiscal year 2023, the number of Tier I children 21
enrolled with an eligible prekindergarten provider; and 22

(ii) Beginning in fiscal year [2025] 2028, the number of Tier I and 23
Tier II children enrolled with an eligible prekindergarten provider. 24

(7) “State share” means, for each county, rounded to the nearest whole 25
dollar, the following calculations multiplied by 0.5: 26

HOUSE BILL 1432 3

(i) Multiply the per pupil amount by the county’s prekindergarten 1
enrollment; 2

(ii) Divide the result calculated under item (i) of this paragraph by 3
the ratio, rounded to seven decimal places, of local wealth per pupil to statewide wealth per 4
pupil; and 5

(iii) Multiply the result calculated under item (ii) of this paragraph 6
by the result, rounded to seven decimal places, that results from dividing the total program 7
amount by the sum of all of the results calculated under item (ii) of this paragraph for all 8
counties. 9

(8) “Tier I child” has the meaning stated in § 7–1A–01 of this article. 10

(9) “Tier II child” has the meaning stated in § 7–1A–01 of this article. 11

(10) “Tier III child” has the meaning stated in § 7–1A–01 of this article. 12

(11) “Total program amount” means the product of the per pupil amount and 13
the statewide prekindergarten enrollment. 14

(c) (1) (i) As calculated under subsection (d) of this section, there is a State 15
share and local share of the per pupil amount for Tier I children. 16

(ii) There is no family share for Tier I children. 17

(2) As calculated under subsection (e) of this section and beginning in fiscal 18
year [2025] 2028, there is a State share, local share, and family share of the per pupil 19
amount for Tier II children. 20

(3) Tier III children are not eligible for funding under this section. 21

(e) (1) On or before July 1, 2022, the Department shall establish a sliding scale 22
to calculate the family share required for Tier II children. 23

(2) The sliding scale developed by the Department shall be increased on a 24
linear basis with: 25

(i) A lower limit of