Governor Murphy and Commissioner Dehmer announce award of $42M to fund preschool facilities projects across New Jersey

NEW JERSEY – As part of the Murphy Administration’s goal to provide New Jersey families with access to universal high-quality preschool, Governor Phil Murphy and Acting Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer Wednesday announced the award of over $42 million in federal grant funding to build and expand preschool facilities in 22 New Jersey school districts.

“High-quality preschool can positively impact the trajectory of a child’s life, which is why we have made it our mission to expand access to these critical programs,” Murphy said. “During our administration, we’ve seen remarkable success in bringing high-quality, state-funded preschool to hundreds of New Jersey communities. These grant awards to support preschool construction and expansion projects represent an investment in our children’s futures and will help bring us closer to our goal of realizing universal preschool in New Jersey.”

High-quality preschool is an investment that will help students for years to come, both in their formative years and throughout their academic careers. Increased access to early education opportunities benefits children and their families, building upon our work to make New Jersey the best place to raise a family and educate a child.

“Families and educators in many school districts have been eager to establish new, high-quality preschool programs in their community,” said Kevin Dehmer, Acting Commissioner of Education. “However, we’ve also heard from many school leaders that the biggest obstacle they face has been the lack of adequate facilities needed to house those programs. This initiative marks a significant step towards universal access to high-quality preschool as it makes funding widely available to help school districts build, expand, or renovate school facilities specifically for preschool students.”

The $42 million is the second round of Universal Preschool Facilities Expansion Grant funding, part of $120 million made available through an allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund money in the Fiscal Year 2023 State Budget. The first round provided over $74 million in preschool facilities funding, including nearly $52 million announced in November 2023 and additional Round 1 projects approved after that announcement.

The facilities funding is one component of New Jersey’s approach to deliver universal preschool by blending district-provided preschool programs with classrooms contracted in licensed childcare providers and Head Start programs.

Awards were based on four priorities, in the following order:

1. Proposals to increase available preschool seats by at least 10 percent, ranked by percentage of increased seats.
2. Proposals to enhance preschool facilities by increasing the capacity of existing classrooms or by constructing/rehabilitating restrooms.
3. Proposals to expand preschool programs from half-day to full-day.
4. Proposals to expand classroom capacity to house new preschool programs and guarantee additional seats.

Universal Preschool Facilities Expansion Grant funding, Second Round: