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Marysville schools to assume Harold Lewis preschool program; district flags $3 million in expected costs
Summary
Superintendent reported the district will take over preschool services from Union County Board of DD, planning to operate the program at the Harold Lewis building with an estimated $3 million in additional expenses and several operational changes for transportation, staffing and tuition.
The Marysville Exempted Village School District will assume responsibility for the Harold Lewis preschool program previously run by the Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities, the superintendent reported at the April 17 board meeting.
The superintendent said the transfer creates roughly $3,000,000 in expected expenses the district must absorb because state law requires districts to provide services for children with disabilities beginning at age 3 through their 21st birthday. The district plans to rename the site “Mini Monarch Academy at Harold Lewis” and will use the Harold Lewis facility for preschool classrooms.
According to the superintendent’s report, Union County agreed to supply equipment, custodial and maintenance services and utilities for the facility; the county’s staff have been offered aid positions in the district and the district will meet with the Union County staff every two weeks during the transition. District staff are also evaluating wiring, network, security and badging needs; those infrastructure costs would be additional and are expected to be paid from permanent-improvement funds rather than the district’s operating budget.
The superintendent said transportation arrangements will change. Harold Lewis indicated it will not continue providing transportation for peer students after the transition, so the district will take over the VAT transportation contract. The district will temporarily increase tuition for peer students to $175 and will lower the minimum age for peer enrollment from 3½ to 3, aligning the program’s age threshold with Harold Lewis’s practices.
Board members asked whether siblings of preschool students would qualify for any transportation or sibling waiver; the superintendent said the district is consulting legal counsel and does not yet have a determination. The superintendent also said the district is discussing service contracts with nearby districts that operate similar programs and that parents have been sent two joint communications from the county and district.
The board was not asked to vote on the takeover in this meeting; the discussion framed operational and budget steps the district will take while staff finalize contracts and policies.
