NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: March 7, 2024
State Board of Education approves three new early learning collaboratives to serve pre-K 4-year-olds
JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted today to add three new early learning collaboratives (ELC) to the current list of 37 to provide high-quality early childhood education pre-K programs to 4-year-old students.
This ELC expansion is made possible by $792,500 in state funds to be used by June 2026. State funding for the ELC program has steadily increased over the years starting with a $3 million appropriation in 2013-14 when the program began to $24 million for the 2023-24 school year. The total state appropriation for the ELC program so far is $102 million with at least 23,600 students served.
This expansion marks the first time any Head Start grantee will be the lead agency to fiscally manage an ELC’s grant funds. Most ELCs in the state are managed by school districts, and two are managed by not-for-profit organizations. The Institute of Community Services, Inc. Project Head Start in Holly Springs is the lead agency for the ELC serving the West Point School District.
The three new ELCs are:
- Community Action of South Mississippi Head Start Early Learning Collaborative in the Pascagoula-Gautier School District
- Friends of Children of Mississippi, Inc. Early Learning Collaborative in the West Jasper School District
- The Institute of Community Services, Inc. Project Head Start Early Learning Collaborative in the West Point School District
The three new ELCs will serve 317 pre-K 4-year-olds in 17 existing classrooms to improve quality of learning. Through state funding more than 6,200 total ELC students will be served in the 2023-24 school year.
An additional funding opportunity for school districts, local Head Starts, licensed childcare centers and private or parochial schools to join the ELC program will be advertised in a few months at mdek12.org/PN/RFP.
The Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013 established the ELC program, which provides funding to local communities to establish, expand, support and facilitate the successful implementation of quality pre-K early childhood education and development services. The main goal of establishing ELCs is to better prepare preschoolers for kindergarten.
In 2023, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) recognized Mississippi as one of only five states that met all quality standards for pre-K.
Find all MDE news releases at mdek12.org/news.
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Media Contact:
Jean Cook, APR
Chief of Communication
601-359-3515
jcook@mdek12.org
Shanderia Minor
Public Information Officer
601-359-3515
sminor@mdek12.org
