Vermont kicks off universal access to publicly-funded pre-K

Springfield was ahead of the pack.

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2016-07-14 / Front Page \ Vermont kicks off universal access to publicly-funded pre-K By Tory Jones Bonenfant toryb@eagletimes.com Parents in southeastern Vermont can now take part in a publicly funded program dubbed “universal pre-kindergarten education” that launched statewide on July 1. The implementation of Act 166 makes Vermont the first state in the nation to require access to pre-K for children ages 3 and 4 at no cost to parents. “Universal pre-K is a win for children, taxpayers, working families, and employers,” said Gov. Peter Shumlin in a press release issued on June 30 by the governor’s office. Shumlin signed the act into law in the 2014 legislative session. “We all know that preparing children to enter elementary school ready to learn is one of the best ways to set up our next generation for success and avoid costly interventions later in life,” the governor said in a press release. Act 166 requires that all Vermont school districts provide universal publicly funded pre-K education for a minimum of 10 hours per week, 35 weeks a year for all 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children who are not enrolled in kindergarten. Under the new law, parents who work in towns outside their home communities can access pre-K for their children closer to their jobs and with more regular hours, Shumlin said The law saves parents and guardians up to about $3,000 per year. The statewide pre-K tuition rate for the 2016-17 school year is $3,092. In the last school year, the rate was $3,000, according to Vermont Agency of Education statistics. Qualified pre-K programs include those operated by community programs, public schools, private early education and care programs, and Head Start. Curriculum in qualified pre-K programs must align with the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) and programs must be licensed or registered by the Department for Children and Families. Pre-qualified public or private programs must also receive and maintains at least one of several quality program recognition standards, according to VAE. In the Rockingham area, the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union is implementing Act 166 fully this year. “We already have a robust early education program that has included our own WNESU in-house program, which offers 10 hours a week of high quality preschool to 3 and 4 year olds, plus we have partnered with many private providers and provided a tuition stipend to parents at qualified preschools under the old rules,” said Superintendent Chris Kibbe on Wednesday, July 13. “We usually serve 80 percent or more of all 3 and 4 year olds that reside in the district. This includes children that attend the Westminster Headstart Program,” he said, adding that some young children are simply cared for at home and do not attend preschool at all. Kibbe said the transition to full implementation is going smoothly thanks to the work of Early Education Program Principal Jennifer Wolfe and Early Education Home to School Liaison Molly Oglesby. “We have had a continuous stream of families applying for the funding since the spring. WNESU has had public preschool since 2002 and began providing funds for some families to attend qualified private partners under Act 62 when it was signed into law in 2007,” Kibbe said. “We haven't seen a rise in total number of families enrolled, but we have seen increased costs to the districts because the state's tuition amount is higher than what we were paying previously.” At the moment, enrollment at the WNESU program is “down a little bit” and enrollment for the state-qualified providers is “up a bit,” he said. “These numbers usually remain in flux until the fall, so it is too early to say how the law has affected enrollment,” he said. To register children for the WNESU programs, which will be housed in Westminster and in Bellows Falls this year, parents and legal guardians can contact Wolfe at (802) 463-9958. The Agency of Education has a website listing the qualified private providers. Oglesby can be be reached at (802) 376-6204 to help parents with preschool decisions and applications. The WNESU also has a Facebook page, WNESU Early Education, with information about providers, preschools, and playgroups, Kibbe said. Pre-K students in Springfield already had access to the publicly-funded pre-K starting last year. “This is not a big deal for us as we were part of a handful of schools in the state that went to universal Pre-K a year early. So, July 1 is really not a significant signpost for us. Springfield was ahead of the pack on getting our youngest community engaged with pre-K,” said Superintendent Zach McLaughlin in a July 13 email. Some school districts and programs launched universal pre-K in 2015. After passage of the act, one-third of Vermont’s school districts moved forward with implementation, although the law allowed them until 2016 to begin that process through a Transition Relief Bulletin. As a result, Act 166 has increased the number of children in state-funded Pre-K by 1,079, according to the governor’s office. McLaughlin said Springfield’s program is composed exclusively of partnerships with private providers, and that Springfield does not house a program within a district school building. “All of our private partners need to utilize licensed teachers and need to be able to meet set of state standards to be participants in the program,” he said. The Springfield School District provides universal pre-K information for parents and an application form on the district website. The form advises parents that the application will register children for the publicly-funded pre-K, but that parents or guardians will also need to contact a pre-K provider directly for enrollment. It also provides names and contact information for 10 area providers partnering with the schools. For more information or to enroll, visit www.ssdvt.org/main/elm/pre-k-program. In the Windsor area, through the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union, parents can apply for publicly funded pre-kindergarten for the 2016-2017 school year by registering their child with a local school district, completing a Residency Verification with the supervisory union office, and enrolling their child in a pre-qualified program for 10 hours a week, anywhere in the state of Vermont. For children who are not yet enrolled in a program, parents or guardians can also enter a “lottery” drawing for a spot in the WSESU Early Childhood Classroom. Forms and explanations of the new law are available on the supervisory union’s website at http://www.wsesu.net/act-166. An email to the Windsor area superintendent for current enrollment information were not returned as of Wednesday afternoon, July 13. According to the press release from the governor’s office, Shumlin said that universal Pre-K also represents a “broader culture shift” in Vermont. With more than 70 percent of Vermont children under age 6 having all their parents in the labor force, universal Pre-K is “critical to supporting working families,” he said. Vermont children from low-income backgrounds who do not attend pre-kindergarten have a 30 percent probability of being kindergarten-ready, while Vermont students from low-income backgrounds with one or two years of pre-kindergarten have up to a 55 percent probability of being ready, according to the governor’s office.