Youngkin’s proposed budget would allocate 1,326 government-funded preschool slots to low income families in Henrico
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The Virginia Department of Education recently released data about the projected number of Virginia Preschool Initiative slots each school division would receive based on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 2025-2026 biennial budget, with Henrico County set to receive 1,326 slots for the 2024-2025 school year.
VPI distributes state funds to schools and community-based organizations to provide preschool programs for at-risk four-year-olds who are not enrolled in the federal Head Start program. The initiative serves families at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, families experiencing homelessness, children with disabilities, children of parents that did not complete high school, and families approved by other locally-established criteria.
Henrico Schools uses both VPI funding and federal Head Start grants to fund its Early Learning Preschool program held at 22 different elementary schools spread throughout the county. School supplies, all meals (including breakfast, lunch and a snack), and transportation are provided to families in the program at no cost.
While 1,326 slots have been allocated to four-year-olds, Henrico and other school divisions have the chance to apply for three-year-old slots as well as additional four-year-old slots through an application process this spring. This year, Chesterfield County is projected to receive 1,322 slots, Hanover County is projected with 213 slots, and Richmond City with 863 slots.
Last year, Henrico was initially allocated 1,267 VPI slots and the division requested an additional 350 slots for three-year-olds. The final allocation gave Henrico 1,052 slots for both three- and four-year-olds as well as 450 community add-on slots for the 2023-2024 school year.
However, according to VDOE data, only 897 students, including community add-ons, ended up enrolling in the VPI program in Henrico in fall 2023.
As a part of Youngkin’s proposed budget, the state would fund $7.6 million of Henrico’s VPI cost while Henrico County would fund $5.6 million – totaling $9,968 spent per child (the standard rate this year for most Virginia divisions). Last year, the state funded $3.5 million while Henrico County funded $2.6 million of the VPI cost. Families that are part of the VPI program do not share any of the costs.
Youngkin announced in December that he planned to invest $448 million into the state’s early learning and child care system each year over the next two years in an effort to cover the growing expenses of child care pushed onto Virginia families. A recent study by Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission estimated that child care is unaffordable for 74% of Virginia families with preschoolers.
With federal COVID relief grants set to expire soon, the VDOE also projected that more than 35,000 children in Virginia will lose access to child care by next summer.
Youngkin’s proposed budget this year would provide an additional $60 million in state funding for VPI across all divisions compared to last year, but localities would also have to cover an additional $60 million. This year’s proposal also adds an additional 1,800 VPI slots statewide to initial division allocations compared to last year.
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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.
