Officials in the South San Francisco Unified School District are considering possible plans to launch a new transition kindergarten program that would align with state goals to expand early education opportunities, but without additional state funding.

With the adoption of Bill 130 by the State Assembly, school districts must now develop a plan to offer all 4-year-olds a transitional kindergarten by June 30, 2022, the first year of a two-year kindergarten program, with full implementation by the school year 2025-26.

“It’s really about providing fair opportunities for all students so that when they enter the K-12 system they have all the skills and basic knowledge to be successful throughout their school years,” said District Superintendent Dr. Shawnterra Moore during a board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 15.

But as a community-funded district, which means that most of the SSFUSD’s budget is funded through property taxes, the district does not receive government funding for admitting the new students unless the student comes from a low-income household or an underserved community.

Without government funding, civil servants will have to develop a program within the existing budget by 2023 that can accommodate 48 students between two classes with an adult to 12 student ratio.

Ted O, deputy superintendent of Business Services, said the district will receive $ 200,000 in one-time funding from the state and could receive an additional government-backed grant of up to $ 200,000 for infrastructure needs like retrofitting a building or paying teachers receive wages. But the district would have to top up the contribution it receives.

“I understand very well that we’re going to have to be doing some kind of magic if we’re going to apply for funding,” said vice president of the board, Mina Richardson.

The districts with the most underserved students also have priority for these dollars. These numbers are based on applications for the free or discounted lunch program. Dr. Jay Spaulding, assistant director of human resources and student services, said the number of students enrolled in the program has fallen from 42% to 32% in recent years as government measures have been put in place to fund school meals for all students regardless of income level .

“And that was the Catch-22. It’s amazing that we have free lunch for all students, but I think it has made some families feel like applying for the program, ”said President John Baker.

Alternatively, a drop in enrollments that has plagued the state could be seen as a benefit to the district, which must determine how to make room for the new students, Spaulding noted. Over the past eight years, the district has seen enrollments decrease by nearly 13%. The number of kindergarten attendants fell by more than 24% over the same period.

Community-funded districts cannot face fines or other consequences if the program is not set up within the first year, Moore said, adding that more clarity is needed on the matter.

“I don’t want to set it up so that it doesn’t come, but we were told that at that moment when we realized we were still gathering information,” said Moore.

To implement the program, the district has a number of options, including hiring a TC teacher for a class of 12 students, hiring a TC teacher and classified employee for a class of 24, or introducing a morning and evening model , the district, to accept 48 students a day by hiring two TC teachers to split the management.

The first model would cost the district $ 110,674 per class of 12, the second $ 79,837 per 12 students or $ 159,674 for 24, and the third $ 55,737 per class of 12 students, but $ 222,948 Dollars in total.

Some trustees supported the third option, but the district must support community contributions before it can agree on a plan. Baker said it could be difficult to interview parents who are unaware of possible program configurations.

“It’s really important to know that the option will really drive potential demand,” said Baker.

Richardson argued that a survey would not get enough responses from the community, pointing to previous efforts with little interaction. Instead, she suggested that the board set up a volunteer parenting committee to examine the options in more detail.

“They would bring a lot of insight that we are likely to miss tonight,” said Richardson.

Ultimately, the board directed staff members to interview parents and the community to gauge their interest in the options. They also directed staff to further investigate the costs and staffing levels required to implement the third option.

Moore said staff would come up with a resolution that the board should pass the next time the matter was discussed, and shared the hope that the state will release additional details on the potential impact if the program does not start immediately.

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SACRAMENTO (KPIX) – Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers expand their transition kindergarten to allow all four-year-old California children to enroll in a publicly funded school for free, regardless of income.

It’s a turning point for California, which has lagged behind other states in early childhood education.

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But while seven out of ten Californians polled by the Public Policy of California this spring support state-funded preschools, not all agree on how to do it.

Joyce Gomez and her husband are thrilled that their three-year-old son Asher may have a free year of pre-kindergarten school at their neighborhood public elementary school next year.

“I’m so happy! I can’t wait,” said Gomez.

The home mom says childcare is expensive and a free year before K would allow her to get back to work and give her son the jump-start he needs.

“The human brain develops 90 percent between the ages of one and five, so it gets better for him how early he can get into a preschool program,” she said.

The California transition kindergarten – or TK – currently accepts around 100,000 children.

These children, who will turn five between September 2nd and December 2nd, are currently receiving a free year of publicly funded Pre-K.

From one year onwards, however, more children will gradually start school until all four-year-old children can attend a transitional kindergarten in public schools by September 2025.

MP Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) presented the bill to expand the transitional kindergarten.

“This will really help the students. It’s a big win for California, ”said McCarty.

However, critics say universal TC would cripple an already fragile childcare industry and hurt families they serve.

BAHIA Inc. provides childcare for children ages two to ten in Berkeley.

Managing director Beatriz Leyva-Cutler only heard of the state’s plans to expand the transition kindergarten last year.

“It was like a cold bucket of ice on our face,” said Leyva-Cutler. “We had to do with COVID and then found out about this transition kindergarten.”

She fears that four-year-old children will leave their bilingual child development program for a free transition kindergarten that does not offer the same high quality education.

That would force them to switch to caring for children ages three and under, a more expensive business model that requires different education and more individualized care.

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“Panning is not as easy as the authors of this bill seem to think,” said Leyva-Cutler. “You know, you just can’t say ‘OK’, you’re a preschool teacher, now a toddler teacher or an infant toddler teacher.

The results could decimate licensed childcare workers who are unlikely to survive the pandemic.

“Many programs have already told us that they must be closed. You have to close. You will have to cut working hours, your staff, ”said Laurie Fürstenfeld from the Child Care Law Center.

Lizz Nolasco says this could put her family in a bind, and not just for her as the preschool director.

If her little son registers in the TK in a few years, the working mother may have to take him from place to place because the transition kindergarten only lasts a few hours and there are still no concrete plans for all-day offers.

“So we would have to start looking for these pre- and post-care options. In the worst case, I might not have a job, ”said Nolasco.

Others worry about additional support for students.

Head Start Executive Director Christopher Maricle says he is working to ensure families can keep the health services they depend on.

“We have a hundred thousand children in Head Start. We just want to make sure in the end that the parents are getting what they need and some of them will need it, ”said Maricle.

The Early Edge education initiative supports the expansion of the transition kindergarten.

According to Executive Director Patricia Lozano, this means around 225,000 more students will have an extra year of schooling at a crucial time for learning.

“All in all, it’s an amazing budget. A historic household. How can we implement this now and help with the implementation? ”Said Lozano.

McCarty says expanding the transitional kindergarten is a huge undertaking and there are still many details to be clarified.

Every fourth public school already has a transitional kindergarten. The state plans to spend billions of dollars to provide elementary schools with portable rooms or to retrofit classrooms that are empty due to falling school enrollments.

Despite a labor shortage, teachers would be reassigned or hired and trained.

Reimbursement rates and support will increase for subsidized childcare serving children under the age of three.

“We think it’s an absolute win-win situation. But the reality is that change is difficult. It disrupts the way things are today, ”said McCarty.

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California plans to have the country’s largest universal transition kindergarten in the next five years, but it is clear that transitioning in or out of the classroom will not be easy.

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