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Pre-K leaders: Lewisville ISD meets state program requirements but state funding still covers only half-day
Summary
District early-childhood staff said Lewisville ISD offers full-day pre-K per state law but the state continues to fund only half-day slots; the district fills most seats, tracks strong learning gains and is considering staffing models amid underfunding.
District early-childhood leaders told trustees Monday that Lewisville ISD runs full-day pre-K programs to meet state law but continues to absorb significant district costs because the state funds only half-day slots.
The early childhood presentation described program reach, staffing models and learning outcomes. The district said its early-childhood programs serve mostly state-eligible four-year-olds, and that 61% of pre-K students were emergent bilingual and 61% qualified as economically disadvantaged in 2023–24.
Presenter said the state requires full-day pre-K for qualifying four-year-olds (House Bill 3, 2019) but funds at a half-day level, leaving school districts to make up the difference. The presentation said Lewisville ISD spent about $2.999 million more on pre-K last year than the state allotment covered, and that the district currently meets TEA’s staffing ratio of 11:1 with a 22-student cap using co-teach models (general pre-K teacher plus SPED teacher) and some self-contained ECSE classes.
Staff discussed alternative staffing models, including an "inclusive" classroom staffed by a triple-certified teacher (early-childhood, special education and ESL/bilingual), which some districts use but which is difficult to staff. The presenter called such teachers "unicorns" because they are rare.
Enrollment data: the district reported a May 2024 peak of just over 1,500 pre-K and ECSE students and mid-semester 2024–25 enrollment of about 1,400 with 270 new enrollments since first day of school. Pre-K programs operate at 18 district sites (17 elementary schools plus Lily J. Jackson early-childhood campus) and had 67 full-day pre-K classes with about half co-teach.
On learning outcomes the district reported strong parent-survey results and end-of-year progress on early literacy measures; the presentation said 99% of responding parents rated their child’s pre-K experience as good or excellent and that students exceeded end-of-year expectations in letter naming measures.
Board members asked about tracking students who began in LISD pre-K and continued through later grades and about transportation and chronic absenteeism. Staff said campuses (notably Lily J. Jackson) conduct attendance follow-up and that transportation can be a barrier for some families; staff agreed to provide additional longitudinal tracking of pre-K participants and to report attendance trends for the program.
Trustees praised the program’s learning gains while asking staff to continue outreach to legislators on funding inequities.
