ND SB2250

The department of commerce shall distribute grants to early childhood education program consortiums based on children's lunch subsidy eligibility: $2,000 per child eligible for free lunches and $1,000 per child eligible for reduced lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.

Grant-eligible children must be North Dakota residents, have reached four years of age before August 1 of the enrollment year, and be enrolled in programs lasting at least 400 hours over at least 32 consecutive weeks.

Children enrolled in federally funded Head Start programs are ineligible for grant counting purposes.

Providers must notify parents quarterly of the total grant awarded, the pro rata amount attributable to their child, and the grant source, using department-standardized notification forms.

Providers failing to meet notification requirements face a 50 percent reduction in their next grant payment; a second failure results in one-year ineligibility from the grant program.