Council Member Chaim Deutsch today praised Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has announced further implementations to make the Universal Pre-Kindergarten program accessible to four-year old children attending non-public schools in New York City. The Mayor has been able to achieve these improvements by adjusting scheduling provisions and other requirements that will allow students to participate in this program.

Council Member Chaim Deutsch, a staunch advocate of equal consideration to the educational needs of all school children, praised the Mayor for his committed efforts. “The new Pre-K requirements will make the program accessible to the diverse cultural fabric that makes up New York City,” Said Council Member Deutsch. “As Chairman of the NYC Council Subcommittee on Non-Public Schools, I have been working closely with the Mayor’s Office and the NYC Department of Education to ensure that all young children have the same educational opportunities.”

The new pre-K guidelines will address the biggest difficulties yeshivas have had with signing up for the UPK program. In the past it has been mandatory to have classes for six hours and twenty minutes of instruction a day, including Fridays. There has been a requirement for one hundred and eighty days of instruction per year, which rendered the program nearly unattainable by the frequency of religious holidays. UPK has had a stipulation which banned any religious instruction during class time. Under the new set of guidelines, schools will permitted to operate the UPK approximately thirty one hours and forty minutes a week – which translates to about five hours a day. This change will allow schools to focus on filling hours of the week instead of the day. Under the new regulations, in order to comply with the required one hundred and eighty days, the City is now allowing schools to use weekend instruction and eleven federal holidays to calculate the required annual instruction time. Religious education can be done during a break in the course of the Pre-K instructional day.

With these improvements, the City-funded UPK service will be more user-friendly and accessible to young yeshiva children. “I look forward to continuing to work with Mayor de Blasio, in conjunction with advocacy organizations such as Agudath Israel to tackle the various complexities of the Pre-K program. Through our continued joint efforts, we will be able to ensure that our City’s children will reach their educational and academic potentials.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)