Hollister School District Board of Trustees voted Nov. 15 to discontinue the State Preschool program for the 2017-2018 school year, citing concerns about cost and declining enrollment. The State Preschool is a reimbursement program that pays the district funds based on student attendance, meaning classes must be full from Day 1 and the students must attend every day for the full funding. There are two classes being offered this year, with 16 students in each class.
Superintendent Lisa Andrew presented the board a summary of the action item and recommended that trustees make a decision at this week’s meeting since the district needed to submit the Continued Funding Application by Dec. 1.
Andrew said, “from my understanding, the preschool has seen declining enrollment over the past few years.” She added that if the district chose to continue with the program, it would have to make a “continual contribution from unrestricted funds of $100,000.”
She also added that while the district does have a migrant preschool program, that program is funded by the region and students have to meet certain qualifications. Students who did not meet those qualifications have to seek other opportunities such as HeadStart, Go Kids, Inc. The affordable housing program CHISPA will be implementing its own childcare/preschool program for families in the surrounding area, HSD officials said.
Kim O’Connor, the district’s coordinator of the migrant program and state preschools, said the low enrollment in preschool is due to the increased cost of living in Hollister and the surrounding areas. “Families who enroll and qualify within the income bracket guidelines are kind of leaving our area,” she said.
With the district electing to discontinue the preschool program by the end of the school year, the students who were enrolled this year will move on to kindergarten while those who plan to attend during the 2017-2018 school year would be able to enroll in other state preschools that were being funded by Go Kids, Inc.
During public comment, community members, staff and teachers spoke out against the closure of the state-funded preschools.
Catalina Johnson, a teacher at Calaveras School, said, “The need for preschool is so important. To learn how to function in a school atmosphere and to learn the basics of how to play and get along with others, (that’s) what kindergarten used to be,” she added. “We need to get families involved in preschool. They need to know what’s available and they need to know that kindergarten is not what they went through.”
Preschool teacher Kim Feathler-Mceachin said, “In the first three years, we have had a new coordinator every single year…every coordinator we have had, as wonderful as they have been, has really had no time to put into the program and they have too many other job responsibilities put on their plate. Sadly, we have never even been given a priority and without that support and direction we have never been given the chance to succeed as a program.”
Lizeth Navarrete, who has worked with the Hollister School District for more than 10 years, said that while students weren’t being formerly tested, their DRDP (Desired Results Developmental Profiles) were similar to students in the migrant program. “We teach them letters, we teach them vowels, we teach them math, we teach them science, we teach them how to write their name… even though it is not stated in an academic way, the state’s guidelines are set up in a way where we do teach the children,” she said.
After public comment, O’Connor continued the discussion by saying the income guidelines are very strict and when a parent submits an application, their gross income is what qualifies them for the program.
“I have out there in my office a stack of about 11 applications on my desk that are over the income limits,” she said. “Yes, we have kids in the community but as the applications come in there are a lot of families I have to call back and say ‘I’m so sorry but you just don’t qualify you make over the income limit.'”
O’Connor added that they saw a decline in enrollment when the district’s TK (transitional kindergarten) program started.
The state’s TK program was established in accordance to the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010, which changed the required entrance age for kindergarten and first grade. Students can attend a TK if they turn 5 years old between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2, according to the California Department of Education website.
During last-minute discussion of the state preschool program, Trustee Mike Baldwin said, “the district has done its due diligence to try support it, to try and carry it and it weights heavy on all of our hearts.”
Trustee Patricia Moore said, “I can remember since I’ve been on the board there’s been an issue with enrollment and it’s been six years. There are other programs available in the area that are essentially the same.”
O’Connor told BenitoLink in an email that none of the students who are currently enrolled in the state preschool program would be impacted by the board’s decision and all 4-year-olds would be moving on to kindergarten next year.