$170M in unused UPK funding returned to state; senator says Monroe-Woodbury sent back the most

Universal Pre-K provides free preschool for 4-year-olds and is intended to help prepare children for kindergarten while easing childcare costs for families.

Blaise Gomez

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Jul 20, 2026, 1:43 PM

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Updated

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For many parents, landing a Universal Pre-K (UPK) spot can come down to luck. Families are often placed on waiting lists or lose out in district lotteries because there aren’t enough seats available.

But News 12 has learned more than $170 million in state funding set aside for Universal Pre-K went unused last year and was returned to Albany.

Sen. James Skoufis says Orange County school districts sent back nearly $10 million, with Monroe-Woodbury returning more than any other school district in New York.

Based on the state’s funding formula of roughly $5,400 per student, that amount represents funding for more than 31,000 potential UPK seats statewide.

Universal Pre-K provides free preschool for 4-year-olds and is intended to help prepare children for kindergarten while easing childcare costs for families.

“UPK helps kids a lot. It helps families a lot. How could you send it back?” said Monroe resident and early childhood development professional Rori Matthew.

Skoufis says while some school districts spend every dollar they’re allocated, others have repeatedly returned millions of dollars that could have been used to expand access to preschool.

“I fight for this money and then they give it back to Albany and they don’t create the UPK slots for four-year-olds in their community,” Skoufis said. “When that happens, that young family has one of two options. They either have to out-of-pocket spend $10,000 to $15,000 a year to get their 4-year-old in education, or they don’t send their 4-year-old to a pre-K education.”

The senator pointed to Monroe-Woodbury and Goshen as examples of districts that have returned large amounts of funding.

“It is disheartening to me. For many years, school districts have been returning this money,” he said. “Goshen returns two-thirds of the state money sent to them. Monroe-Woodbury returned more than $4 million in Universal Pre-K money to Albany.”

Skoufis acknowledged there are exceptions. He said some districts, including Florida, have returned funding only because every family that wanted a UPK spot received one, leaving no additional demand.

But, he argues, that’s not the case in most districts.

“They’ve had six years to figure it out,” Skoufis said. “If they have a space problem, if they have some other problem, they’ve had six years to figure it out. Unfortunately, a big part of the problem is they have not prioritized this. It’s a shame.”

Monroe resident and early intervention worker Carina Graganella said the funding should be reaching children instead of going back to the state.

“It’s just awful that there’s funding that should go to children for education purposes and they’re not getting it,” she said. “It’s really upsetting to see.”

Graganella said many families already struggle to find available preschool programs.

“There’s no programs. It’s a lottery and it’s hard for people to get into them,” she said.

So far, the Monroe-Woodbury School District has not said why it returned so much funding.

Meanwhile, changes included in this year’s state budget will require school districts to use their available UPK funding beginning in September 2028. Skoufis said he pushed for the change and hopes districts won’t wait until the mandate takes effect before expanding access.

Here’s how much unused UPK funding Orange County school districts returned to the state last year:

Monroe-Woodbury: $4,786,514

Kiryas Joel: $1,736,472

Goshen: $609,738

Newburgh: $522,187

Port Jervis: $436,296

Pine Bush: $391,673

Warwick Valley: $313,200

Cornwall: $233,500

Chester: $168,092

Florida: $160,981

Highland Falls: $125,801