Most child care business owners don't realize a major education funding bill passed this year includes workforce development money that could reshape hiring in their industry.
When Mississippi's HB1935 education appropriations bill moved through the legislature, most child care owners were focused on their own sector—if they were paying attention at all. But buried in Section 13 of that bill is a $212,500 grant that indirectly affects how child care facilities find and hire skilled maintenance, construction, and facility management staff.
HB1935 directs the State Department of Education to transfer $212,500 to the Mississippi Construction Education Program during fiscal year 2027 (July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027). That program trains high school and post-secondary students in construction trades—everything from carpentry and electrical work to HVAC and plumbing.
For child care centers, this matters because those graduates become the workforce pool you draw from when you need someone to repair a roof, upgrade your HVAC system, fix electrical issues, or handle facility renovations. A stronger construction education pipeline means more trained workers available locally, potentially shorter wait times for repairs, and a more competitive labor market that could affect pricing.
Child care facilities are buildings. They need maintenance. They need upgrades. They need people who know how to do that work safely and to code. When skilled trades workers are scarce, child care owners compete with every other business in the state for limited labor—and that drives costs up and timelines out.
The Construction Education Program is a direct public investment in that workforce pipeline. More funding to the program means more students trained, more graduates entering the trades, and a deeper bench of available workers when your facility needs work done.
This is especially relevant for smaller child care operations that don't have in-house maintenance staff and rely on local contractors. A robust trades education system keeps those contractors available and reasonably priced.
The $212,500 transfer takes effect in fiscal year 2027, which runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. That means the program will receive this funding starting mid-2026, so you should expect to see the effects—more trained graduates entering the workforce—over the following year and beyond.
If you're planning facility upgrades or repairs, knowing that this workforce development money is coming online gives you useful context for budgeting and scheduling. It's also worth staying aware of what your state is investing in workforce development, since those investments directly affect your operating costs and your ability to maintain your facility.
The full provision can be found in Section 13, page 1 of HB1935.
For a free, detailed breakdown of how education appropriations bills affect child care operations in Mississippi, resources are available through your state child care association.