The state’s pre-kindergarten program, Arkansas Better Chance, will receive $60 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education & Health & Human Services.
The Preschool Development Grant will award $15 million a year for four years to extend pre-K services in the state. The money will go toward the state’s most underserved counties: Craighead, Crittenden, Jefferson, Lonoke, Miller, Pulaski, St. Francis, Searcy, Union and Washington counties.
“We are excited to be selected to receive this expansion opportunity,” Tonya Williams, director of the Division of Child Care & Early Childhood Education in the state Department of Human Services, said in a news release.
DCCECE will hold a competitive request for proposals to select subgrantees for funding, which will improve services for about 1,670 children per year in the state, and add 2,240 new pre-K slots.
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