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3,300 Kids in 74 Minnesota School Districts Will Enroll in Free, Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Programs This Year

8/8/2016 9:45:08 AM

New $25 million investment secured by Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith makes important step toward voluntary pre-kindergarten for all Minnesota children

Sixty percent of the 183 school districts and charter schools that applied for funding this year did not receive state aid, demonstrating significant demand for additional funding

If additional funding had been available, another 6,837 Minnesota children would have attended state-funded pre-kindergarten programs this year

ST. PAUL, MN – Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith were joined today by Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius to announce that beginning this fall, 3,302 four-year-olds in 74 Minnesota school districts and charter schools will attend voluntary pre-kindergarten, free of charge. These programs will save families thousands of dollars, while preparing Minnesota’s youngest learners for success in school and life. With this pre-kindergarten investment, just over one-fifth of all Minnesota school districts will provide free, voluntary pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds in their communities.

Minnesota’s pre-kindergarten expansion was made possible by a new $25 million investment secured this session by Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith. But additional state funding is needed to ensure all Minnesota four-year-olds gain access to free, voluntary pre-kindergarten. In total, 183 school districts and charter schools applied for pre-kindergarten funding this year. But due to a lack of funding, nearly 60 percent of those districts did not receive state aid. Had additional state funding been available, 10,139 children in those 183 districts and charter schools that applied would have been enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs this year.

“Minnesota schools and families want voluntary pre-kindergarten, and our children need it to succeed,” said Governor Dayton. “But without additional funding, thousands of kids will be denied the educational opportunities they need to achieve their greatest potentials. Lt. Governor Smith and I will keep fighting until every Minnesota family has the choice to send their child to preschool.”

Last year, Minnesota was ranked 50th in the nation for access to full-day early learning programs. According to the Annie E. Casey Kids Count Data Book, 55 percent of Minnesota’s three- and four-year-olds are not enrolled in any form of pre-kindergarten. Many Minnesota students who are enrolled in early learning programs have to pay tuition. Over 25,800 early learning scholarships funded by the Governor and Legislature over the last three years have helped reduce those costs for families. But many Minnesota families do not qualify for state-funded scholarships, and are forced to pay thousands of dollars for pre-kindergarten tuition or expensive childcare.

“The investment we made this session brings Minnesota closer to optional preschool for all four-year-olds, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. But we have a lot more work to do,” said Lt. Governor Tina Smith. “Access to preschool is a proven strategy for closing our state’s opportunity gap. We need to build on this investment to ensure every child gets a great start in Minnesota.”

For years, Minnesota has faced persistent achievement gaps. Studies have shown that early learning programs have impressive and long-lasting benefits for low-income students, including increased high school graduation and employment rates, and decreased incarceration rates. Leading researchers and economists have found that these outcomes yield long-term benefits of as much as $16 for every $1 invested in early learning programs. Most of those cost savings are in education, human services, and justice system savings, as well as increased tax revenues.

“We still have a lot of work ahead to address the opportunity gaps that are barriers to many of our children succeeding,” said Commissioner Cassellius. “Providing free public access to pre-kindergarten that is high quality, free of charge, and close to home is a great step in the right direction. Looking ahead we will continue building on Minnesota’s promise of an equitable and excellent education for all children and that starts with pre-kindergarten for every family that chooses it for their child.”

School Districts and Charter Schools Receiving State Funding

This school year, 3,302 Minnesota four-year-olds will gain access to free, voluntary pre-kindergarten. In total, 74 school districts and charter schools will receive funding, including 14 Metro Area districts, 50 Greater Minnesota districts, and 10 charter schools. The program is targeted to Minnesota school districts and charter schools that serve high numbers of low-income students and where there may be limited access to other high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. Below is a full list of this year’s pre-kindergarten funding recipients.

District Number	District Name	Number of Pre-K Students (Est.)	State Funding Awarded
4073	Academia Cesar Chavez Charter	40	$356,934
4018	Achieve Language Academy	40	$293,390
2854	Ada-Borup Public School District	40	$198,551
241	Albert Lea Public School District	100	$818,959
11	Anoka-Hennepin Public School District	96	$710,172
4067	Aurora Charter School	20	$171,902
492	Austin Public School District	50	$283,756
162	Bagley Public School District	32	$137,144
777	Benson Public School District	31	$103,938
32	Blackduck Public School District	23	$130,163
271	Bloomington Public School District	118	$819,062
286	Brooklyn Center Public School District	85	$667,419
191	Burnsville Public School District	116	$827,481
836	Butterfield-Odin Public School District	15	$87,727
852	Campbell-Tintah Public School District	6	$45,316
4004	Cedar Riverside Community School	20	$180,748
592	Climax Public School District	14	$110,879
2888	Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Public Schools	19	$106,065
13	Columbia Heights Public School District	156	$1,059,067
4015	Community Of Peace Academy	38	$303,697
166	Cook County Public School District	45	$177,656
317	Deer River Public School District	46	$254,621
709	Duluth Public School District	66	$408,987
4068	Excell Academy Charter	30	$238,433
656	Faribault Public School District	18	$109,162
698	Floodwood Public School District	15	$81,169
14	Fridley Public School District	68	$522,991
318	Grand Rapids Public School District	15	$86,183
316	Greenway Public School District	35	$244,217
402	Hendricks Public School District	12	$84,364
330	Heron Lake-Okabe Public School District	14	$80,396
473	Isle Public School District	15	$85,855
36	Kelliher Public School District	15	$117,149
306	Laporte Public School District	25	$118,544
497	Lyle Public School District	35	$163,770
415	Lynd Public School District	12	$99,152
432	Mahnomen Public School District	20	$142,752
77	Mankato Public School District	32	$163,890
4	Mcgregor Public School District	27	$121,060
2711	Mesabi East Public School District	30	$132,606
1	Minneapolis Public School District	162	$1,372,953
308	Nevis Public School District	70	$142,580
4161	New Discoveries Montessori Academy	6	$72,238
2215	Norman County East Public School District	16	$105,297
622	North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale Schools	76	$455,308
118	Northland Public School District	15	$105,228
480	Onamia Public School District	39	$358,052
279	Osseo Public School District	229	$1,539,803
309	Park Rapids Public School District	35	$146,964
4097	Partnership Academy, Inc.	10	$67,714
548	Pelican Rapids Public School District	33	$186,260
2174	Pine River-Backus Public School District	32	$151,550
4213	Prodeo Academy	10	$75,307
2906	Red Lake County Central Public Schools	30	$151,714
2884	Red Rock Central Public School District	18	$87,094
2890	Renville Cty West Public School District	31	$173,887
280	Richfield Public School District	126	$825,467
196	Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Schools	24	$163,730
2907	Round Lake-Brewster Public Schools	50	$249,915
6	South St. Paul Public School District	102	$629,136
833	South Washington Public School District	24	$118,415
742	St. Cloud Public School District	150	$1,005,160
840	St. James Public School District	77	$378,396
2142	St. Louis County Public School District	8	$49,241
4029	St. Paul City School	23	$205,979
625	St. Paul Public School District	78	$604,685
2358	Tri-County Public School District	14	$71,923
458	Truman Public School District	20	$99,940
2134	United South Central Public School District	35	$205,917
2176	Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Schools	33	$150,833
435	Waubun Public School District	40	$254,008
2898	Westbrook-Walnut Grove Public Schools	4	$35,330
803	Wheaton Public School District	18	$102,240
347	Willmar Public School District	30	$154,990

School Districts and Charter Schools Not Receiving State Funding

Not all districts applying for funding received state aid due to the capped appropriation of $25 million. The 109 school districts and charters listed below did not receive funds to provide pre-kindergarten. If their applications had been funded, an additional 6,837 students would have been enrolled in free pre-kindergarten programs this year. In the cases noted, the districts’ programs were only partially-funded.

District Number	District Name	Number of Pre-K Students (Est.)	Note
206	Alexandria Public School District	20
11	Anoka-Hennepin Public School District	32
261	Ashby Public School	19
4011	Athlos Leadership Academy	60
2396	Atwater Cosmos Grove City Schools	80
91	Barnum Public School District	28
542	Battle Lake Public School District	27
2364	Belgrade Brooten Elrosa Public Schools	35
31	Bemidji Area Schools	153
786	Bertha-Hewitt Public School District	26
2534	Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian Schools	34
271	Bloomington Public Schools	168
2860	Blue Earth Area Public School District	60
314	Braham Public School District	36
181	Brainerd Public Schools	125
846	Breckenridge Public School District	37
801	Browns Valley Public School District	17
877	Buffalo Hanover Montrose Public Schools	48
2159	Buffalo Lake Hector Stewart Public School	30
191	Burnsville Public School District	36
852	Campbell-Tintah Public School	4	Partially funded
891	Canby Public Schools	25
391	Cleveland Public School District	30
95	Cromwell-Wright Public School District	14
593	Crookston Public Schools	65
378	Dawson-Boyd Public School District	25
879	Delano Public School District	14
22	Detroit Lakes Public School District	220
4198	Discovery Woods Montessori School	20
112	Eastern Carver County Schools	18
2752	Fairmont Area Schools	68
544	Fergus Falls Public Schools	248
698	Floodwood School District	5
601	Fosston School District	46
14	Fridley Public Schools	72
2365	Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Schools	40
2859	Glencoe-Silver Lake Public School District	30
200	Hastings Public School District	197
545	Henning School District	22
738	Holdingford Public School District	45
423	Hutchinson Public School District	16
361	International Falls Public Schools	72
199	Inver Grove Heights Schools	33
2835	Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton ISD	44
717	Jordan School District	45
2172	Kenyon-Wanamingo Public School District	60
739	Kimball Public School District	50
2137	Kingsland Public School	59
2071	Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial	51
390	Lake of the Woods School	22
2889	Lake Park Audubon Public School District	38
2167	Lakeview Public Schools	32
2397	Le Sueur-Henderson Public Schools	45
499	LeRoy-Ostrander Public Schools	13
362	Littlefork - Big Falls Schools	26
415	Lynd Public School	23	Partially funded
837	Madelia Public School District	32
2135	Maple River Public School District	70
441	Marshall County Central Schools	32
413	Marshall Public Schools	52
763	Medford Public School District	36
912	Milaca Public Schools	27
1	Minneapolis Public Schools	172
414	Minneota Public School	38
2769	Morris Area Schools	83
621	Mounds View Public School District	30
319	Nashwauk Keewatin Public School District	23
4161	New Discoveries Montessori Academy	12
345	New London-Spicer Public School District	10
88	New Ulm Public School District	70
553	New York Mills Public School District	45
507	Nicollet Public School	40
138	North Branch Area Public Schools	240
622	North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale	143
2168	NRHEG Public Schools	64
279	Osseo Area Schools	51	Partially funded
761	Owatonna Public Schools	52
549	Perham Dent Public School District	40
484	Pierz Public School District	73
578	Pine City Public School District	60
477	Princeton Public School District	40
719	Prior-Lake Savage Area Schools	107
630	Red Lake Falls JA Hughes Elementary	30
256	Red Wing Public Schools	110
2897	Redwood Area School District	70
280	Richfield Public Schools	36
4064	Riverway Learning Community	10
281	Robbinsdale Area Schools	128
535	Rochester Public Schools	103
883	Rockford Public Schools	35
196	Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan	100
485	Royalton Public School District	60
139	Rush City Schools	53
4215	Sejong Academy	15
720	Shakopee Public Schools	76
2310	Sibley East Public School District	70
363	South Koochiching Rainy River Schools	27
6	South St. Paul Public Schools	119
833	South Washington County Public Schools	78
297	Spring Grove Public School	33
4029	St Paul City School	11	Partially funded
625	St Paul Public Schools	43	Partially funded
2142	St. Louis County Schools	92
283	St. Louis Park Public School	16
282	St. Anthony-New Brighton Public Schools	34
15	St. Francis Public School District	60
2170	Staples Motley Public School District	50
2856	Stephen-Argyle Central Public Schools	28
834	Stillwater Area Public Schools	30
486	Swanville Public School District	25
564	Thief River Falls Public School	15
2904	Tracy Area Public Schools	20
2125	Triton Public Schools	12
550	Underwood School District	39
487	Upsala Area Schools	25
818	Vernadale School District	17
706	Virginia Public School District	130
811	Wabasha-Kellogg Public School District	30
2155	Wadena Deer Creek Public School District	55
690	Warroad Public School District	61
829	Waseca Public Schools	10
111	Watertown- Mayer Public School District	53
435	Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Schools	3	Partially funded
284	Wayzata Public School District	136
2898	Westbrook Walnut Grove School District	34	Partially funded
577	Willow River Area School District	30
177	Windom Public School District	29
2609	Win-E-Mac School District	36
861	Winona Area Public Schools	10

MAP: Map of the school districts and charter schools that applied for, and/or received prekindergarten funding this year. [Link]

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