Consolidated Amendment "A" to H4005
Education
Fiscal Note: $46,240,000
Education: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 63, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 78, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 140, and 141
Mr. Michlewitz of Boston and others move to amend H.4005 in section 2A, in item 1596-2517, by inserting after the word “projects” the following words:- ; provided, that not less than $300,000 shall be expended for Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute Incorporated for costs associated with the education of students; provided further, that not less than $150,000 shall be expended as a grant to the Northeast Arc, Inc. for its Pathways to Opportunities program for education, mentorship, skill-building and job training of eligible high school students who are not immediately college bound; provided further, that not less than $350,000 shall be expended for the classroom expansion project at the United South End Settlements in the city of Boston; provided further, that not less than $875,000 shall be expended for a statewide college and career readiness program implemented by JFYNetWorks, a nonprofit corporation, to: (i) provide online instructional curricula to help students meet the Massachusetts state standards at each grade level and reduce learning loss and achievement gaps; and (ii) prepare students for required assessments and college placement tests in middle and high schools; provided further, that not less than $200,000 shall be expended for 826 Boston, Inc. to administer writing enrichment, tutoring and college prep services for public school students; provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended for NeighborHealth Corporation for the development of a school-based health clinic within the Mario Umana Academy in the city of Boston; provided further, that not less than $45,000 shall be expended to the town of Wayland for the purchase of a van needed to expand transition programming for special education students in the Wayland public schools; provided further, that not less than $125,000 shall be expended to Junior Achievement of Greater Boston, Inc. to enhance middle school to career pathways, featuring the following programs: (a) interactive career exploration events designed to connect 1,200 8th graders with local businesses and industries to provide education pathways for career enhancement; (b) direct youth entrepreneurship by giving high school students the space, mentorship, materials and educational support necessary to launch and operate businesses in conjunction with coursework; (c) providing financial literacy courses, materials and educator training to students enrolled in financial literacy courses through designated district public schools; and (d) providing all levels of placement services and support for paid internships for program alumni; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for support of the Gloucester high school vocational school, including, but not limited to, the design, construction and implementation of a medical assisting program; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for The Sports Museum to continue Boston vs. Bullies programming and preservation; provided further, that not less than $150,000 shall be expended by the department of elementary and secondary education for a grant program to school districts for implementation of community schools, including, but not limited to, the hiring of community school coordinators; provided further, that not less than $125,000 shall be expended as a grant to The May Institute, Inc. to support accessibility and construction costs for its new school located in the town of Mansfield for the special education of public school students with autism and other developmental disabilities up to age 22; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to NEADS World Class Service Dogs to administer, expand and digitize the NEADS Red Vest Accessible program; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for the Worcester public schools to supply elementary schools, that serve students in Main South and Columbus Park, with reading materials for English language learners that are relevant to and reflective of their experiences; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for the Leicester public schools to purchase equipment for its veterinary technician vocational program; provided further, that not less than $300,000 shall be expended for full-time kindergarten tuition expenses for Braintree public schools; provided further, that not less than $300,000 shall be expended to Special Olympics Massachusetts, Inc. for early motor skills development and inclusive pre-K and elementary education; provided further, that $500,000 shall be expended to METCO, Inc. to supplement costs of late bus transportation for the 33 METCO school districts; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended to Calmer Choice to enable continuation of the non-profit’s 15-year evidence-based mental health programming to students in grades K-12 and educators in 11 public schools and 11 community organizations throughout Cape Cod and the south shore; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be allocated to Wondermore Inc. to support literacy initiatives in Boston public schools, with a focus on promoting diversity through author visits and book distribution; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be allocated to Boston public schools for the development of the Aviation Program at Madison Park technical vocational high school, an FAA-certified initiative designed to train students to become licensed, certified pilots; provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended for Women’s Money Matters, Inc. to provide support for financial wellness programs; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be provided to the city of Brockton and expended for the installation of a public safety crosswalk in front of New Heights charter school located on Main street in the city of Brockton for costs associated with design and installation; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the Mattapan Technology Learning Center, Inc. for instructors and case managers to provide job training and career placement for technical industries; provided further, that $50,000 shall be expended for the St. Stephen’s Youth Parent mentoring program at the Mattahunt elementary school to increase the parent mentoring cohort size to 10; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to Brave Behind Bars, Inc. for the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College women’s education program; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended to the E-Team training program to support vocational education and workforce training for adults; provided further, that not less than $75,000 be expended for the Haitian-Creole program at New England Culinary Arts Training; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the rehabilitation and conversion of the McKinley school in the city of Revere into an early childhood education center; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for Blessed Stephen Bellesini, O.S.A. Academy, Inc. to support underserved students in the city of Lawrence; provided further, that not less than $150,000 shall be expended to Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. to provide support to evidence-based early childhood education programs that promote language, literacy and social-emotional skill development for preschool children from under-served communities and the expanded scope of work that Jumpstart provides in the commonwealth to address the early education workforce shortage; provided further, that not less than $2,700,000 shall be expended for Leo Inc. in the city of Lynn for capital costs to increase childcare capacity at its Broad street preschool; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended for psychosocial educational programming at the Teen Torch Foundation; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be allocated to Amherst-Pelham regional school district for special education services; provided further, that not less than $850,000 shall be expended to Charles River Community Health, Inc. to develop physical space and support start-up costs necessary for a primary care medical residency program; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for computer device replacement in the North Reading public schools; provided further, that not less than $300,000 shall be expended to the New Bedford Whaling Museum's welcome and exhibition center; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the town of West Springfield for educational materials, programs or services incurred by the town of West Springfield; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for improvements to the Framingham high school auditorium; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the Chenery middle school in the town of Belmont for the Chenery park revitalization project to enhance educational opportunities for students; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the town of Shelburne for playground improvements; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the town of Charlemont for the Mohawk Trail regional and Hawlemont school districts’ sustainability study; provided further, that not less than $20,000 shall be expended for Julie’s Family Learning Program, Inc. for a 1-time investment to replace antiquated infrastructure at its early education and care facility; provided further, that not less than $200,000 shall be expended to People, Incorporated for expanded and affordable childcare access for infants, toddlers and preschoolers in the city of Fall River; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the Greenfield public schools to support students in the city of Greenfield; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the Laboure Center, Inc. to offset costs associated with placing English language learners through its nursing assistant and home health aide program; provided further, that not less than $150,000 shall be expended to the Josiah Quincy School Association in the city of Boston; provided further, that $25,000 shall be expended for the South Boston Neighborhood House, Inc. to offset a 1-time deficit for its early education and care program; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the town of Upton to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended to the town of Northbridge to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended to the town of Grafton to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for upgrades to the Lynnfield high school auditorium in the town of Lynnfield to improve daily educational and after school uses of the auditorium; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended to the Children’s Room in the town of Arlington for student mental health support; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the Westfield school district for costs associated with projects in the musical education of students; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for bathroom renovation and accessibility upgrades for the Belchertown public schools; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for Springfield public schools for improvements to the Indian Orchard elementary school; provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended to Ellis memorial early education center in the city of Boston; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for necessary repairs to the Newbury elementary school in the town of Newbury; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for Springfield public schools to expand the arts program by acquiring art supplies, theater essentials and pottery supplies to increase student engagement; provided further, that not less than $350,000 shall be expended to Kids In Tech, Inc. for the purposes of supporting after-school, hands-on science, technology, engineering, art and math education programs across the commonwealth; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for Springfield public schools to obtain translation devices to support communication for multilingual learner students and their parents; provided further, that not less than $125,000 shall be expended for improvements to pedestrian and busing access at Walpole high school; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for Springfield public schools to obtain and disperse, to all schools, multilingual dictionaries for multilingual learner students; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for Springfield public schools for improvements at Dorman elementary school; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended to the town of Lunenburg for educational materials, programs or services incurred by the town of Lunenburg; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended to the Springfield public schools for improvements at Boland elementary school; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for Springfield public schools to obtain headphones for ACCESS testing for multilingual learner students; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the town of Bellingham to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the town of Uxbridge to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to the Blackstone-Millville regional school district to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended to the town of Arlington for technology upgrades in the Arlington public schools; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to Methuen public schools to support special education services; provided further, that not less than $150,000 shall be expended to Springfield public schools for the replacement of the fire alarm system at Springfield high school of science and technology; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the Peabody public school system to provide for the science from scientists program; provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended toward academic and financial support services for students of the Urban College of Boston: A Two-Year College, Inc.; provided further, that not less than $200,000 shall be expended to Marlborough public schools to offset unanticipated out of district special education placements and related transportation costs; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended to the city known as the town of Franklin for the purchase of a special education passenger van to transport and support students for in-district programs in the Franklin public schools; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the city of Watertown to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the town of Waltham to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the city of Newton to offset special education costs for fiscal year 2025; provided further, that not less than $200,000 shall be expended to College Bound Dorchester, Inc. for the administration of alternative education and other services for at-risk youth; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the town of Westford for technological equipment upgrades in classrooms for Crisafulli elementary school in Westford; provided further, that not less than $300,000 shall be expended to Weymouth public schools for materials, tools, equipment, technology and educational resources that support teaching, learning and educational development within the Weymouth public schools vocational and career technical education programs; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended to Melrose public schools for energy efficiency upgrades to Lincoln elementary, Melrose high school, and Melrose Veterans Memorial middle school; and provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of consolidating the following school districts: Northern Berkshire school union, North Adams school district, and Hoosac valley regional school district; the study will also take into consideration the consolidation of services;
And further amend said item by striking out the figure “$100,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $13,765,000;
And further amend said section 2A by inserting after item 1596-2517 the following item:-
1596-2519For a reserve to support regional school transportation costs……..$15,000,000.
And further amend said section 2A in item 1596-2511 by inserting after the figure “2026” the following words:- ; provided further, that not less than $7,500,000 shall be expended for an early education and care educator loan forgiveness program established in section 19G of said chapter 15A; provided further, that not less than $8,000,000 shall be expended for grants to early education and care providers for costs associated with personal childcare
And further amend said item by striking the figure “40,000,000” and replacing it with the following figure:- 55,500,000
And further amend said section 2A by inserting after item 1596-2516 the following item:-
1596-9805For programs to encourage graduates of the commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education to work as public school educators; provided, that not less than $1,237,500 shall be expended to fund the tomorrow’s educators scholarship program established pursuant to section 19D of chapter 15A of the General Laws; provided further, that not less than $1,237,500 shall be expended for a student loan repayment assistance program for public school educators; provided further, that the student loan repayment assistance program shall be administered by the executive office of education and that funds for the program may be expended to enhance existing loan repayment assistance programs, if appropriate; provided further, that the student loan repayment assistance program shall provide assistance of not more than $7,500 per eligible individual; provided further, that said program shall prioritize the recruitment and retention of racially, culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse educators consistent with chapter 132 of the acts of 2019 to diversify the educator workforce; provided further, that to be eligible for loan repayment assistance under this item, an individual shall: (a) have completed a bachelor’s degree program at a public institution of higher education as defined in section 5 of chapter 15A of the General Laws and including Quincy College, after January 1, 2020; (b) have outstanding educational debt that was incurred to pay tuition, fees or additional costs of attendance as calculated by the institution of higher education, including, but not limited to, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, child care and personal expenses, while enrolled in an undergraduate degree or post-baccalaureate program at the institution; and (c) commit to and work for 4 years in a school district, as defined in section 2 of chapter 70 of the General Laws, as a teacher, instructional or program paraprofessional, or in any other position that requires a license or other form of certification issued by the department of elementary and secondary education or other state agency; provided further, that the executive office of education shall promulgate regulations for the administration and enforcement of the student loan repayment assistance program which shall include repayment procedures if a participating individual fails to comply with the program requirements; provided further, that if the funds appropriated for the program are insufficient to cover costs of all eligible individuals, priority shall be given to educators working in school districts with higher shares of students who are designated as low income as defined in said section 2 of said chapter 70; provided further, that not less than 45 days prior to the obligation of funds for the loan repayment assistance program, the executive office of education shall submit a comprehensive program plan to the executive office for administration and finance, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on education; and provided further, that funds from this item may be expended on a public awareness campaign on the loan repayment assistance program……………………..$2,475,000
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 2A the following 2 sections:-
SECTION 2B. Chapter 15D of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
Section 22. (a) As used in this section, the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
“Imagination Library of Massachusetts program”, a comprehensive statewide initiative to encourage children from birth to 5 years of age to develop a love of reading and learning.
“Qualified local entity”, an existing or new local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library affiliate that agrees to fund up to 50 per cent of the costs of the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program.
(b) Subject to appropriation, the department shall establish the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program to promote the development of a comprehensive statewide initiative to encourage preschool age children to develop a love of reading and learning. The department shall develop, implement and promote a comprehensive statewide initiative to encourage children from birth to 5 years of age to develop a love of reading and learning.
(c)(1) Subject to appropriation, the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program shall provide, through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, 1 age-appropriate book to each registered child from birth to age 5. Books shall be sent monthly to each child’s home at no cost to families.
(2) Subject to appropriation, the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program shall contribute funds to qualified local entities participating in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
(d) The department shall administer the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program, including, but not limited to:
(i) promoting the statewide development of qualified local entities;
(ii) coordinating with qualified local entities to increase enrollment;
(iii) engaging with communities, qualified local entities and nonprofit leaders across the commonwealth;
(iv) implementing a statewide marketing and communications campaign, including, but not limited to, an ongoing public awareness campaign to:
(A) make donors aware of the opportunity to donate to the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program; and
(B) make the public aware of the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program and how to register eligible children; and
(v) coordinating the local match requirement for approved qualified local entities as well as the reimbursement of local program costs for books and mailing, as needed.
(e) The department shall, in coordination with the qualified local entity, ensure all personally identifiable information is handled in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations.
(f) Annually, not later than March 15, the department shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the chairs of the joint committee on education, the executive office for administration and finance and the executive office of education on the activities of the program, including, but not limited to: (i) the total number of children enrolled, delineated by municipality; (ii) the number of books sent to enrolled children, delineated by municipality; (iii) the number of books returned as undeliverable, delineated by municipality; (iv) any activity from the Imagination Library of Massachusetts Fund, established in section 2KKKKKK of chapter 29, including, but not limited to, deposits and expenditures; (v) the number of qualified local entities across the commonwealth, their locations, local match amount contributed and other local partners, if any; and (vi) any other information the department deems relevant.
(g) The department may promulgate regulations, pursuant to chapter 30A, for the implementation of the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program.
SECTION 2C. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2JJJJJJ, inserted by section 7 of chapter 248 of the acts of 2024, the following section:-
Section 2KKKKKK. (a) There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate, non-budgeted special revenue fund known as the Imagination Library of Massachusetts Fund that shall be administered by the secretary of education.
(b) There shall be credited to the fund: (i) revenue from appropriations and other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; (ii) funds from public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations; and (iii) interest earned on money in the fund. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended without further appropriation. No expenditure made from the fund shall cause the fund to be in deficit at any point. Any money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. The fund shall not be subject to section 5C.
(c) Funds shall be made available to provide age-appropriate books on a monthly basis, at home, to each child registered in the Imagination Library of Massachusetts program, established pursuant to section 22 of chapter 15D, from birth to their fifth birthday, inclusive, at no cost to families or guardians, in coordination with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.