Preschool funds become available through state
For Troy parents, a lack of consistent and affordable childcare and preschool options over the last 10 years has left families with children under 5 struggling to find last-minute child care, and often suffering financially because of the high cost of child care.
But the possibility of Morrison Elementary incorporating a state funded preschool program into the school may be the answer for some parents of 4- and 5-year-olds.
The funding Troy is seeking would be sourced from a $3 million pool, announced June 6 by Montana Governor Steve Bullock, to expand access to quality early childhood education for four-year-olds. The program represents the first-ever state investment in publicly funded preschool and was passed with bipartisan support.
Acting quickly in response to news of the available funding, Morrison Elementary principal Diane Rewerts said, “we are currently applying for grants from Bullock’s preschool fund, which are due by June 15. We are really excited about the possibility of being able to offer this to the community.”
If the funding is received, the school would have a class of 4- and 5-year-olds who would be taught by a certified early education teacher, and Rewarts said the school would use a “creative-based curriculum” that would prepare students for kindergarten, yet not be as academically focused.
Rewerts said in a June 12 phone interview that the resoning behind using a creative curriculum is that “many people don’t understand how rigorous kindergarten has become. The preschool, if we went ahead with it, would be a great service to ‘young fives’ [5- year-olds whose birthday qualifies them for kindergarten, but who turn five early in the year]. A few months makes such a difference in maturity at that age.”
Libby School district has just completed the second year in a similar federally funded program, the Montana Preschool Developmental Grant.
“Kindergarten readiness” tests have improved since the preschool has been open, superintendent Craig Barringer said via email.
“This year 34 of 36 children tested ready for kindergarten through the DIAL 4 tests given by the Montana Office of Public Instruction,” Barringer wrote.
The gap in preschool services is most pressing as Troy has recently lost a preschool, Grace Montessori school, run out of the Troy Baptist church, which closed its doors in early June after being in operation for 18 months.
Baptist church pastor Cam Foote said that keeping the preschool running financially was a strain on the church.
“The only way it can work is if you have a nonprofit that donates everything,” Foote said. “Any money that comes in goes out in wages. We ran at a considerable loss that we had to make up as a church.”
Despite the church absorbing costs like utilities, some Troy parents still struggled to come up with the monthly fees, Foote said.
Bullock’s press release reports that finances are one of the prime reasons children in Montana don’t have access to early learning: “high costs and limited access to high-quality programs across Montana prevent many families from taking advantage of early childhood education opportunities. The average cost of childcare for a four-year-old in Montana is $7,900, or 13 percent of the average family’s income.”
Many parents in Troy do not make the average Montana annual income of $44,000, making child care a proportionally larger cost.
If the school based preschool comes into being, it may be the long term solution parents of preschoolers who are not eligible for Head Start — which has low income eligibility requirements — have been looking for.