Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke on Tuesday announced that the preschool tuition subsidy program is now accepting applications year-round.
The Preschool Open Doors program aims to give more children in Hawai‘i a chance to enroll in private preschools. The initiative is funded by the state Department of Human Services and administered by the organization People Attentive To Children, or PATCH.
The announcement follows a new law allowing eligible parents of 3- and 4-year-olds to apply year-round, compared to when DHS previously opened applications for just a few months a year.
“Parents are not really thinking about preschool until it gets really close to the school period or the enrollment period, which is in June,” she said. “Which restricted a lot of individuals from taking advantage of the funding.”
The preschool program’s funding in the state budget has increased from $12 million to $50 million.
Prior to the funding increase, the state only spent at about half of the $12 million due to the short time frame of the eligibility period.
So far, DHS has awarded POD subsidies to over 1,300 children statewide, doubling the number compared to previous years.
The Ready Keiki initiative's goal is to provide preschool access for all 3 and 4-year-olds statewide by 2032, creating more than 400 classrooms.
