A new bill introduced in the New York State Assembly will create funding to include Pre-K students as part of transportation aid that is received by school districts for K-12 students.
Legislation introduced by 109th district Assemblywoman Pat Fahy would bring parity for Pre-K transportation by providing state aid to public school districts as is now provided for K-12 education.
"What I want to do is make sure that there is parity. So that if a school district is going to expand into pre-K (and I hope they do) that we provide parity and give them the same transportation reimbursement as we would for a student in K-12."
Fahy, a Democrat, says without additional aid provided, school districts may not be able to afford the full cost of transporting Pre-K students, which could force parents with no alternative method of transportation to forego Pre-K enrollment for their children.
The bill currently has over 20 co-sponsors in the Assembly.