Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Childhood Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Marysville to operate Mini Monarch preschool; district will not provide bus service to peer students
Summary
District staff presented plans to take over preschool operations from Harold Lewis Center, adopt a new 'Mini Monarch Academy' brand and handbook, and told the board peer (tuition) preschool students will not be eligible for district busing because of capacity constraints on the VAT contract.
The Marysville Exempted Village School District told the board on Tuesday it will take over preschool operations previously associated with the Harold Lewis Center and will operate the program under the brand "Mini Monarch Academy." Staff said the board will vote later in the meeting on a preschool handbook and staff approvals.
"Next year, VAT, who currently contracts with Harold Lewis to transport their students, we are going to be contracting with them or that contract is transferring to us for next year," said the preschool presenter identified in the record as Kim (staff member). Kim explained that all preschool students with individualized education programs (IEPs) are eligible for transportation but that peer (tuition) students are not because the VAT contractor cannot add routes or drivers. "If we offer to one, we would have to offer to all," Kim said, explaining the district must treat families equally and cannot grandfather certain students into bus service.
Kim told the board class lists are complete for now and that peer wait lists across Marysville and the Harold Lewis Center have been cleared. The district has created a shared cost sheet for peer students from other Union County schools if those districts want to send students. Staff also presented daily schedules, including a two‑hour delay schedule, and said onboarding for preschool staff will begin the following week. The superintendent noted the board will be asked to approve preschool staff later in the evening.
Transportation, staffing and facilities remain the most complicated items for implementation; the presenter said the Harold Lewis preschool staff will tour the Harold Lewis building and the Harold Lewis staff will move toward the Harrold Lewis Building next week to plan classroom locations. Two previously expected building secretaries had resigned and those positions were posted.
What the board approved and next steps: The board later voted on consent items that included personnel approvals; staff said the preschool handbook and staffing approvals would be included on the board's consent agenda for final action that evening. Staff will implement transportation eligibility consistent with federal and state rules for students with IEPs and the constraints of the existing VAT contract.
