“We are only serving 40 percent of the potential preschool population, and if we truly are going to meet the new higher standards and prepare our children to compete in the global economy, we’ve got to start earlier, and we’ve got to start involving more of them in the preschool program,” Estrop said.
The expansion will cost the district $150,000 from its general fund for the remainder of this school year. If the program expansion continues, it would cost about $200,000 annually.
Officials plan to add two full-day classrooms and convert a current half-day preschool program to a full-day class. They also plan to hire two teachers and two aides.
The district is using its own financial resources after it lost out on funding to expand its preschool program when Ohio was not selected to receive $20 million of a $250 million federal preschool grant.
Estrop said SCSD was one of the districts selected to be part of the grant if Ohio had been successful.
“This is a very modest expansion compared to what we could have accomplished with a federal grant,” Estrop said. “We’re using our own resources to implement a scaled-down expansion, but at least it will move us forward in the right direction.”
Director of Elementary Education Andrea Townsend and Clark Preschool Building Administrator Debra Accurso presented the district’s plan during a board of education meeting Thursday night.
They said several studies show that an investment in early education reduces grade retention, decreases school dropouts, improves graduation rates and improves future employment opportunities.
Early childhood education also improves literacy skills, science, social studies and math development, and social and emotional development, Townsend and Accurso said.
The board unanimously approved the expansion.
Board President Ed Leventhal said the need for early childhood education is great in the local community and thinks it will improve test scores.
“There’s been a number of studies that shows that preschool has a significant impact in terms of academic performance and academic growth, and we think one key component to continually improve our academic performance is to expand preschool, so we’re excited to do that,” he said.
In 2010, the district was awarded an early childhood grant for $120,000 to serve 30 more children. In 2014, the district was awarded an expansion grant of $280,000 to serve an additional 70 children.
Estrop said investing in early education is a key to improving student performance.
“The research is very compelling, particularly for students who are economically disadvantaged. Essentially, the earlier we can intervene and get them on a better track than they may be on the better their results, and that research has been around for some time,” he said.
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