Pacific Grove board discusses universal pre‑K (UPK) implementation, parents and teachers urge keeping 'summer' children in neighborhood schools

District staff and trustees spent a substantial portion of the April 3 meeting discussing how Pacific Grove Unified will respond to California’s universal pre‑K (UPK) timeline and whether to admit children born in the summer months to district TK classes in 2025–26.

Larry Hedquist, executive director of educational services, reviewed the legislative history and the phased expansion that led to the state’s UPK roll‑out. He described three options for PGUSD: maintain the current cutoff (June 2) and defer expansion; adopt the state’s full September 1 cutoff (which would require smaller class sizes and additional staffing consistent with UPK apportionment rules); or adopt the September 1 cutoff while retaining the district’s current class‑size maximum and adding non‑teaching…