ST. PAUL — Lori Erickson was thrilled when state lawmakers last year agreed to fund another 5,200 seats of free, voluntary pre-kindergarten in Minnesota. That commitment allowed the St. Paul Public Schools to roughly triple pre-K slots this fall to 1,500.

“We are very proud of having our pre-K classrooms within an elementary setting,” said Erickson, the district’s assistant director for pre-K programs. “It allows families to enter at (age) 4 and stay through that entire elementary school through fifth grade. So it’s a great landing spot and a great place to become a part of a community.”

Voluntary pre-K is essentially free preschool for 4-year-olds. With the funding, schools can add a new grade level to an existing elementary school. The 5,200 new slots put the total at 12,360 available

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