Chapter 13 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 13 the following section:-

Section 13A. (a) The board and department shall develop a program for universal pre-kindergarten education in gateway municipalities, as defined in section 3A of chapter 23A, which shall be available to all children ages 4 and older (and may be made available to children ages 3 and older) who reside in a gateway municipality and would be eligible for free or reduced price lunch if the child attended a public school.

(b) In developing the program, the board and department shall: (i) establish a standardized pre-kindergarten curriculum for all program participants; (ii) partner with current providers of pre-kindergarten services in gateway communities; and (iii) focus on the specific cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, cultural and physical needs of the children in each gateway municipality.

(c)  Each child who qualifies for the universal pre-kindergarten program established by this section shall be counted as a student of the school district in which the child attends the pre-kindergarten program, and shall be included as such a student for the purposes of calculating that district’s funding pursuant to chapter 70.               

(d) The board shall adopt rules and regulations to implement the requirements of this section.