CPS commits to full-day Pre-K program

Cost won’t be one of the factors that help differentiate which local pre-K program families should choose.

The Carrington School Board voted Tuesday to charge $150 per month tuition for all students, regardless of financial situation.

Earlier this month, the Independent reported that Caring-Ton Preschool, the private nonprofit preschool program in the city, decided to offer a morning class next school year. They reported that their rate would increase to $150 per month, from $125 this year, and that the class would be open to both 3 and 4-year-old students.

After an intense discussion focused on dollars and sense, Carrington school board members came to the conclusion that they needed to charge the same rate for all students.

Superintendent Kris Kuehn presented a financial analysis for the newly established pre-K program. The budget for the year, including a full-time teacher and paraprofessional, totaled $131,779.

Based on 40 enrolled students, his chart showed various tuition rates, the net cost to the district and the cost to families by the day and hour.

“With no ESSER funding, we’d have to charge $325 per month to break even,” board member Randy Hooey deduced.

The school district plans to use ESSER III coronavirus relief funds to cover the program costs in the first two years, with $140,000 available for the 2022-23 school year, and $105,000 earmarked for 2023-24. Beyond that, the district would need to absorb the costs of the program beyond the revenue generated from tuition.

With tuition at $150 per month, the program is estimated to bring in $54,000 in revenue, at an annual cost of $1,350 per student. This equates to $2.07 per hour of instructional time.

The discussion was thorough, with consideration made for the private preschool. “I think we should match them,” President Joel Lemer said of Caring-Ton Preschool.

Other board members, including Tonia Erickson and Angela Kutz, signaled that they were in support of raising tuition above the private program’s rate, perhaps to $175 or more per month.

Members also discussed offering a reduced rate for low income students. One proposal was to offer a $75 per month rate for students who qualify for free or reduced meals. However, board members were concerned that having a number of students enroll at a reduced rate would make the program less sustainable.

Helseth offered two examples of other public school districts offering pre-K, Bowman and New Rockford-Sheyenne (NR-S). Bowman’s tuition is set at $75 per month, or $50 for students who qualify for free and reduced meals. At NR-S tuition is $50 per month, $9 for those who pay a reduced fee, and free for those who qualify for free meals.

“How much does the district want to absorb?” Hooey asked, adding, “We can’t absorb $60,000 per year.”

Kuehn noted that by not offering a lower rate for those who qualify for free and reduced meals the district would “leave at-risk 4-year-olds behind that can’t afford the program up town, and won’t be able to afford ours.”

“I ask myself why are we opening this and why are we taking hours away from that preschool?” Helseth posited. “I thought that we knew we were going to have to spend some of our district dollars to provide an opportunity to students in our district.”

Hooey made the motion to charge $150 per month to all students, which was ultimately carried unanimously.

The class will be split into two sections, the Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday groups. The two groups will alternate Fridays, and are scheduled to have 87 instructional days each. Helseth shared a calendar with board members illustrating how the Fridays would be split that included the early out days and non-instructional days.

Julie Miller, who has taught kindergarten for the past 10 years at CPS, will instruct the pre-K students. She will be assisted by Darielle Harrington, who has worked as a paraprofessional at the school for two years.

Students will attend school for full days, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:13 p.m. This will make it possible for pre-K students to ride the bus to and from school, minimizing the transportation burden on district families.

However, stops will not be added to the bus routes to pick up pre-K students. If there are other students in the household and the bus is already scheduled to stop at their home, pre-K siblings will be able to ride. Families may also walk or drive their pre-K students to and from a scheduled stop, such as a neighbor’s house or a city bus stop.

“We want to be able to extend them transportation, but we do not want to extend the miles,” Kuehn said.

Daily rest time will be on the schedule, as well as gym time and music, Helseth said. The cost of tuition does not include breakfast, lunch or T.E.A.M., the district’s after school program, which PreK students will have the option of attending.

Board member Kevin Wolsky said his primary concern was not having enough space for all the students who want to attend the school district’s pre-K program. Helseth and Kuehn had based their numbers on 40 students, and Helseth said she knew of at least 50 kids who would be eligible to attend.

“I still believe you are going to have a problem when the class is full,” Wolsky said.

Currently the district offers a special needs preschool program for 3 and 4-year-olds. There is no cost to attend; however, inclusion has been an issue in the past, as special needs students are not attending school with their peers. With the new pre-K program, 4-year-old students would have the opportunity to join the pre-K classroom at the school.

The special needs preschool will still exist, but will mostly serve 3-year-olds, Helseth said. The state covers some of the cost of instructional time for pre-K students with special needs, business manager Kimary Edland noted.

Pre-K Registration will be held April 11-14 after school. Priority will be given to families residing within the Carrington School District.

Discussion was also held on adding a third section for kindergarten. Helseth explained that the expected enrollment could approach 50 students. Board members decided to keep things as is, with two sections each staffed by a full-time teacher and a full-time paraprofessional.

Per a presentation on pre-K at NR-S on January 10, the district’s pre-K budget is $115,000 for the 2021-22. They will generate $9,000 in revenue from tuition and receive $16,000 in grant funding. Therefore, NR-S will absorb $90,000 in costs to offer the program this school year alone. There are 18 students enrolled in the program.