School District Mulls Offering Tuition-Based Pre-K Program

Three Village school administrators have released a survey they hope will gauge the community's interest in a tuition-based pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds should one be launched in the district.

Cathy Taldone, director of school and community partnerships for the district, said such a program would exist completely outside the school budget.

"It would be tuition that is competitive with what other preschool programs charge, and it would be a self-supporting program similar to the school-age child care program funded by parent fees," she said.

According to the National Education Association, studies have shown that early childhood education has many benefits for students throughout their lives. "Children in quality preschool programs are less likely to repeat grades, need special education, or get into future trouble with the law," the NEA says on its website, citing the The Abecedarian Project.

"With today’s academic pressures and concerns for kids, it’s important for them to get a head start," Taldone said.

In less than a day, the district received approximately 400 responses, but had not yet reviewed the data contained within them. The district is collecting responses through May 31.

While the details are far from certain, Taldone said the teachers employed by the pre-K program would likely be considered TVCSD employees. It would likely be housed at Nassakeag Elementary, where there are currently a few unused classrooms, and would have a before- and after-care program as well.

"Part of the day would be academics, but other parts of the day would be what 4-year-olds should experience: fun, creativity, socialization, physical activity, that kind of thing," Taldone said.   

The survey is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3vpreksurvey.

However, the chance exists that if the school district offered a pre-K program, it could possibly threaten other local preschools' ability to remain a viable business.

Eileen Hummel, owner of Imagination Preschool, said local preschool enrollment has already been on the decline for several years, which has already caused what she described as difficult staffing cuts. She said a universal pre-K program, such as programs in Middle Country and Sachem, would have decimated her preschool business, but at least a tuition-based program in Three Village would still allow a chance that private preschools could still compete.

"From a business standpoint, we are fortunate that the Three Village School District has elected not to participate in the UPK program. If they did, our school (and others in the area) would probably not have any four-year-old classes and would rely entirely on toddlers and threes," Hummel said. "In today's environment we could not survive under those circumstances. If they are considering a tuition-based program we might still be competitive depending on their capacity and rates."