225 kids are waiting to go to preschool, and the list could get longer
Hundreds of Sioux Falls kids from low-income families sit on preschool wait lists, and new federal requirements could make that list even longer.
Sioux Falls public schools for years have had long wait lists for Head Start, a federally funded early childhood education program that serves 414 students in Sioux Falls.
The Head Start federal office last fall released new performance standards for the preschool program, including a provision that schools more than double the amount of time kids spend in the program.
►Related: Why S.D. won't fund preschool any time soon
But doubling services with no additional funds could mean serving fewer kids, Early Childhood Education Coordinator Val Peters told school board members Monday night.
The Sioux Falls School District received a grant from Head Start to help implement the new standards, but the more than $189,000 grant will only send 17 of the more than 400 kids in the program to full-day preschool.
South Dakota is one of only six states that doesn't offer any funding for preschool, leaving local communities to rely on limited federal funds and nonprofit aid.
►Related: Can S.D. send all kids to preschool without state money?
Legislators earlier this year shot down a state-funded preschool pilot program, and state leaders have never seriously discussed funding early childhood education.
That means low-income families who cannot afford to pay for private preschool tuition are left with Head Start as their only option.
If the district doesn't receive any more money to comply with the new Head Start standard of full-day programming by 2021, they're going to have to cut the number of students in the program to make ends meet.
►Related: Legislators shoot down state-funded preschool pilot
Board Member Doug Morrison expressed concern at the prospect of lengthening an already long wait list for the program, which is meant to prepare children for kindergarten.
Morrison suggested the district reach out to the federal Head Start office and the state's congressional delegation to communicate the impact these changed standards will have on Sioux Falls children.
"We'll just have to figure out how we communicate the potential impact to our district," Morrison said.
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