School Board Goes Forward with Pre-K Plan

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Created on Wednesday, 09 October 2024 13:57

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By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Plans for a pre-kindergarten program administered by the Sitka School District moved ahead Tuesday when the School Board agreed to explore the concept and consider a number of options before making a final decision.
    The discussion of Superintendent Deidre Jenson’s pre-K proposal followed the first item of business at Tuesday’s special meeting: the swearing in of Amanda Williams, who won a seat on the board in the Oct. 1 municipal election.
    In her presentation Jenson told the board the three stated goals of any pre-K program hosted by the district are to support Alaska Reads Act literacy initiatives, support teachers and support the community in general.
    “Really it’s prevention, it’s to assist and help with those kindergartners that are coming in,” Jenson said. “We have about 80 percent of students that were kind of needing intervention, in the red, so to speak… That’s pretty standard coming into kindergarten, and we just really want to kind of get ahead of the game.”
    She cited a survey conducted across the district which indicated that 43 families are interested in a childcare program, while 21 are on the fence and 35 are not interested. Full-day pre-K education drew the most positive responses, with 57 families interested in such a program and 17 in favor of a half-day, two-hour program.
    The school district is working with Tlingit and Haida Head Start to coordinate programming, and any district program would be aimed at families that don’t already have access to child care, Jenson said. The district program would be open to kids four and five years old who missed the kindergarten cutoff, though there could be a chance to include 3-year-old kids eventually, Jenson said.
    “We do know that there is a concern that we’re competing with Head Start and other agencies. We’re not trying to pull people from other pre-K programs or child care programs that are in here,” Jenson said. “We’re trying to fill the need.”
    Board member Steve Morse supported the idea, saying the need for extra child care resources in town is clear.
    “I think there’s a lot of potential here for improving some of the services that kids are offered here in town, because they’re very limited right now,” Morse said. “We used to have quite a few more preschools, but I think there’s also some things that need to be ironed out.”
    He continued: “Parents have been crying out for some support, and there’s been a group (the Early Childhood Coalition) that’s been meeting and talking about needs, so I would like to see this proceed and possibly become a bigger discussion point for schools and with parents.”
    A panel on the need for child care was on the program of today’s meeting of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce.
    The proposal approved by the School Board Tuesday is for a program with an annual tuition of $1,000 and two teaching positions for 20 kids. The board’s approval of the motion did not immediately commence a pre-K program, but rather allowed district staff to continue working toward that objective.
    The program “is meant to be self supporting,” a district document presented to the board stated.
    The total cost and revenue would come to $140,000 in the program’s first year, with $20,000 raised from tuition monthly for seven months, the memorandum says.
    Board member Phil Burdick expresses reservations about the pre-K initiative, especially when it came to finances.
    “A tuition-based program is not equitable,” Burdick said. “You can say that we’re going to offer support for people to get day care assistance, but there is a… price attached to it, and I can’t wrap my head around that.
    The program’s focus on meeting AK Reads standards, he added, “feels a little bit like teaching to the test, which I don’t like.”
    Jenson said the program could use free and reduced lunch applications to allow for financial aid for those in need.
    Xóots Elementary principal Jill Lecrone, speaking from the audience, said the program would be far more than an effort to prepare kids for standardized testing.
    “By no means are we teaching to the test,” Lecrone said. “Our preschool will be a very hands-on place-based environment where kids can thrive. I believe that our kids need a space to play and grow, and, yeah, there will be some pre-academics in there, but the whole point of it is to get them in with other kids, to play and to get socialized and to be happy and well-adjusted.”
    Also from the audience, Betty Eliason Child Care Center board president Joel Markis expressed concern over possible competition between a district-run program and the existing programs around town.
    “Betty Eliason Center has not been made aware of this plan,” Markis said. “We would love to have subsidized tax subsidies, or have staff that receive the same benefits as school district employees. And so kind of, from my perspective, I look at the school district as opening up a competing venture in our community that benefits from the tax base.”
    He said the school district should reach out to the other child care centers in the community and find out the best ways to meet some of the needs that are addressed in the proposal, “rather than directly opening up a child care center.”
    Following the public comment, Jenson said the district does intend to coordinate with other child care providers.
    “To the comment that was asked and made, we do still need to reach out to some of the other preschool programs that are in town, or day care facilities or preschool programs,” Jenson said. “So we will be doing that a little further on. We do want to focus on early literacy, and we do want to encourage parent involvement with this, and also provide professional development for those preschool educators.”
    Any pre-K program offered by the district is not meant to compete with the Ventures after-school program either, and needs to support itself financially, Jenson said.
    “It is meant to be self-supporting and not rely upon Ventures funding; it’s tuition based. There were at least 24 families that said that they would pay at least $1,000 a month,” Jenson said. “... We did not include any of the Ventures funds in this budget.”
    The board approved the pre-K plan 3-1, with Phil Burdick, Amanda Williams and Steve Morse in support, and Tom Williams opposed. Board member Todd Gebler was absent.
    With the district moving forward with a pre-K initiative, Jenson told the Sentinel after the meeting the next steps will involve outreach and coordination.
    “We will be reaching out, specifically, again, to families… and then the next step is also to continue to reach out to the other pre-K facilities,” she said.