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Levy County schools report sustained pre-K growth, new VPK accountability rules and funding pressures
Summary
District presenters told the school board the county's pre-K program has expanded since 2021, is largely funded by grants and faces new state VPK performance metrics and staffing pressures that could raise costs.
A district pre-K director told the Levy County School Board the district's pre-kindergarten program has expanded steadily since 2021 and now runs more full-day classrooms, but that state accountability changes and rising staff costs have tightened budgets.
The Pre-K director (name not specified) told the board the district offered 9 full classes and 5 additional classes with 205 students in 2021 and now operates 14 full classes and one half class serving about 255 students. "We provide a full day program even though we only get reimbursed from the state for half a day," the director said, outlining why general fund dollars are used largely for staff.
The presentation summarized classroom composition and funding: roughly half of pre-K seats are VPK (general education) students, while roughly 49% or fewer seats in any classroom are special education (ESE) students eligible through an IEP. The director said per-student state reimbursements are $2,808 for a full-time VPK (540 instructional hours), $3,340 for an employee-child slot and $5,905.39 for a full-day ESE student.
Why it matters: state rules are adding a new VPK performance metric that will be public for the 2024-25 school year and can place programs on probation if classroom quality scores fall below a state threshold. The director said half of the metric is a classroom observation score (a 1'7 scale composite collected by state observers) and the other half combines learning gains (30% of the metric) and achievement (20%). She noted the STAR Early Literacy cut score used for the achievement portion was 690 in prior years and is raised to 707 for the first graded year.
District staff described steps to respond: continued coaching, an itinerant ESE teacher who serves all five schools (currently carrying a case load of about 86 students), plans for a UPK Summer Bridge program at Joyce Bullock and Bronson, and internal class-unit adjustments based on projected enrollment. The director said the district receives significant federal grant funding for supplies and curriculum supplements (citing approximately $200,000 from ARC funds and more than $100,000 for supplemental books) while nearly 99% of expenditures for pre-K are salaries, benefits and substitutes.
Board members asked about state observation frequency and supports for schools. The director said the state observation is one visit; programs scoring below a 4 may pay the coalition for one additional review and that district composite scores generally fall in the mid-5 to low-6 range. On supports, the director said district coaches and a coaching model are used to model lessons and provide feedback in classrooms with lower scores.
The presenters also reported district screening and evaluation volumes: the district does roughly 300 evaluations or reevaluations annually (pre-K through 12), with roughly one-third of those at ages 3'4, meaning nearly 100 evaluations a year for 3- and 4-year-olds. The director said early identification and intervention reduces the need for more restrictive settings later.
Board takeaways included a note that state statute and new rules will make VPK performance designations public and that the district is working to add pre-K special-education support and coaching while balancing budgetary limits.
The board did not take formal action on the VPK presentation; staff said they will return with implementation details as legislation and state guidance are finalized.
