District Investigates 4K for the Fourth Time in Six Years

Click on the link below to see that the district is again investigating 4K for the district. The meeting is TOMORROW August 7 at 6:30 at Creekside Place. There has been a lot of kerfuffle in this district regarding 4K. It's sad that its lack in Evansville has put the district at a competitive disadvantage, as it is the only one in the area without 4K. This doesn't really affect folks already here because the DPI requires open enrollment into 4K programs from a district without 4K to be paid for with tuition from the incoming students. So people not only have to schlep their kid to another district but have to pay for it as well. They can get paid preschool in one of several preschools in town, so who the heck would pay to go to another district? The true problem is that folks will not move into the district when others offer 4K and all the other amenitites of the ECSD. How will the district spin this? My take on this is that if Evansville were strong in other areas, it wouldn't matter. With the open enrollment out problem continuing this year, I think it's safe to say parents aren't convinced the district is strong otherwise. The question is how can the district meet the need of the kids who lack any preschool training? Since the administration kicked out Head Start back in 08 or so, these kids have lost a leveling mechanism to bring them up to speed with their peers who have had preschool.  Then there are a small group of kids who never had a shot at preschool because the parents made too much for Head Start and not enough to afford preschool. Universal preschool isn't the answer. Meeting the needs for the ones who need it is the answer, with the added benefit of only costing about 25 or 30% of universal 4K (based on how many qualify for free or reduced lunches). What do you think?

http://www.ecsdnet.org/documents/Board%20Meetings/2013-2014/August/agendaspboardatt.pdf