Kindergarten Plus Pilot Project
In 2003, legislation sponsored by Representative Mimi Stewart established a fund to allow four
New Mexico public school districts to develop a three-year pilot program to demonstrate the
extent to which increased time in kindergarten can narrow the achievement gap and increase
cognitive skills for economically disadvantaged students. The four original districts named in
legislation were Albuquerque Public Schools, Gadsden Independent Schools, Gallup-McKinley
County Schools and Las Cruces Public Schools.
In 2006, House Bill 43, also sponsored by Representative Mimi Stewart, was passed by the
Legislature and signed into law by Governor Richardson. This legislation extends the original
three-year kindergarten plus pilot project to a six-year study ending in 2009. House Bill 43
allows for expansion of the project in the original districts and expansion of the project to
other school districts with high-poverty schools.
The kindergarten plus pilot project provides funding for approved full-day kindergarten programs
to be extended by at least forty instructional days or up to four months for participating students.
