JACKSON – The State Board of Education (SBE) recently awarded $24,064,656 in grants to 20 school districts to implement and/or continue State Invested Pre-K (SIP) programs.

The Vicksburg Warren School District was included, receiving a total of $2,751,723 over the course of three years. The VWSD will be paid the total in three equal yearly installments of $917,241.

The VWSD was granted a portion of funding based on the points achieved in their application.

The purpose of these grants is to provide funding to support high-quality pre-K programs for 4-year-old children in districts that are not part of the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) Early Learning Collaborative (ELC) program. SIP programs expand MDE’s offering of high-quality pre-K programs.

The funds will be used by 10 districts to renew their SIP programs, and 10 additional districts to create new SIP programs. The first SIP programs in the state were implemented in August 2023. There are now a total of 33 SIPs in Mississippi that will serve up to 2,120 students in 109 classrooms.

The districts that will create new SIP programs are: Louisville School District, New Albany School District, Richton School District, Tate County School District, Western Line School District, Covington County School District, Forest Municipal School District, Meridian Public School District, Perry County School District and Winona-Montgomery School District.

The districts that renewed their SIP programs are: Smith County School District, Newton Municipal School District, Jefferson Davis County School District, Union County School District, Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District, Vicksburg Warren School District, Natchez Adams School District, Tupelo Public School District, Lauderdale School District and Wayne County School District.

The Mississippi Legislature appropriates state funding to provide public schools with a grant opportunity to implement pre-K programs. Like the ELCs, the SIP programs will meet all 10 National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) benchmarks: use of Early Learning Standards, curriculum support, teacher degree, teacher specialized training, assistant teacher degree, staff professional development, maximum class size, staff-child ratio, screenings and referrals, and a continuous quality improvement system. While partnerships with local childcare centers or Head Start grantees are not required to receive the grants, applicants who establish these partnerships receive priority points during the evaluation process.

The grant period is July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028. Awarding of the grant each year is contingent on the successful completion of services, a performance evaluation, and the availability of funds.