Roughly 2,400 children will gain free preschool seats across Washington in the 2026-27 school year, Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Monday, Sept. 21.

None of the 42 new Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) sites are in Olympia, Tumwater or Thurston County. But local families who meet income or other eligibility requirements can still enroll at existing ECEAP providers statewide.

The expansion adds those 42 new sites and grows capacity at 105 existing providers, according to the governor's office. The 2,400 slots exceed the state's original first-year target of 2,000.

"As we're facing budget challenges, our public-private partnership is expanding access to high-quality early education for thousands of kids across our state," Ferguson said in a statement.

The money

State and Ballmer Group grant funds will total more than $251 million for early learning providers in the 2026-27 school year. The Ballmer Group, the philanthropic organization founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer, committed up to $170 million per year over the next decade, according to the organization. That 10-year commitment could create up to 10,000 new school-day seats and roughly $1 billion in total support.

The grant carries a condition. The state pledged no further budget cuts to ECEAP for 10 years. That pledge followed a difficult 2025 budget cycle in which lawmakers cut about $60 million from ECEAP, eliminating roughly 12% of slots, as the Washington State Standard reported.

Workforce shortages cut some slots

The 2,400 figure is slightly below what the state originally projected. Some sites that accepted funding returned it because of workforce shortages and challenges opening new classrooms.

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) said in the announcement that it continues working with applicants to address those barriers.

Who qualifies

ECEAP, created in 1985, serves 3- and 4-year-olds in families earning at or below 36% of the state median income. For a family of four, that threshold is $50,152 per year. Families also qualify based on factors such as homelessness, foster care, incarcerated parents, family violence or a child's developmental delay.

With the expansion, the state expects to serve roughly 14,500 children in the 2026-27 school year. Full expansion would reach nearly 25,000.

Families can find enrollment information at dcyf.wa.gov.