Anne Arundel County Public Schools is eliminating public prekindergarten for 3-year-olds next school year to comply with recently passed state guidance, converting them to spots for 4-year-olds instead.

The Anne Arundel school system has offered free pre-K to 3-year-olds for the last three school years.

The change was announced in news release Wednesday, following the Maryland State Board of Education’s unanimous vote in January to recommend that public school systems focus on getting all low-income 4-year-olds into full-day pre-K, which they attend for free.

The policy change was approved by the Accountability and Implementation Board, which oversees how the state rolls out its landmark education improvement plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Expanding pre-K access for all 4-year-olds and low-income 3-year-olds is a key part of that plan.

School systems are supposed to use both public and private pre-K classrooms to achieve that goal, though the state has struggled to recruit private early childhood education programs.

In its news release, Anne Arundel County Public Schools said the county’s 3-year-olds could enroll in private pre-K programs, including home-based child care and Head Start programs, though the future of that federally funded program is unclear. Families who meet certain income requirements could still send their children to some private programs for free or at a reduced cost.

After the state board passed its pre-K guidance, the Maryland State Child Care Association expressed concern that parents who have to pay for at least some of their pre-K costs would mostly be funneled toward private classrooms. Those programs are set up to collect tuition payments, infrastructure public schools lack.

“It is hard to compete with free, and our business model isn’t fully sustainable without four-year-olds,” Executive Director Chris Peusch said in a January statement, adding the decision “further deepens the divide between public and community-based programs.”

Anne Arundel said it will focus on expanding pre-K for 4-year-olds, looking first to enroll the county’s poorest preschoolers, as well as some students with special needs or who are learning English “in school settings close to their homes.” Children from families with higher incomes will get seats once the neediest students get a spot.

Families can start registering for next school year’s pre-K programs on May 6.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.