Districts across the state will receive an additional $11 million in additional state funding for full-day kindergarten as a result of the 2017 “Keno-garten” bill, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education. Districts receive about $3,600 in state funding per student in grades 1 through 12, but they received only half that amount for each kindergarten student, whether their schools offered full-day or half-day programs. A 2017 bill, nicknamed “Keno-garten,” gave each district an additional $1,100 per full-time kindergarten student, but does not require districts to offer full-day programs.
The additional funding is paid for through lottery revenues generated by the Keno 603 game that was authorized in the same bill.
Governor Sununu praised full-day kindergarten programs in a statement:
“As promised when I signed this bill into law last year, we are making the investments needed to help children build a strong educational foundation for the future,” he said. “I’m proud of this effort and thrilled that funds will soon be sent to school districts that have expanded kindergarten programs.”
“This funding will help communities in our state offset the cost of expanded kindergarten programs,” said Caitlin Davis, the director of Division of Education Analytics & Resources.
According to the estimates, the city of Manchester will receive the most additional kindergarten aid – $1.1 million – with Nashua receiving more than $830,000 and Concord, which adopted full-day K in March, receiving about $322,000.
Read more about kindergarten and early childhood education:
- Business leaders champion full-day kindergarten
- Sens. David Watters and Jeb Bradley: Young NH students need full-day kindergarten
- Concord mom: full-day kindergarten could help attract and retain residents
Source: Nearly $11M Heading To Cities, Towns For Full-Day K | New Hampshire Department of Education
