Beatrice faces surge in preschool applications; board agrees to pursue state startup grant and draft policy on 5-year-olds

Beatrice Public Schools administrators told the board they are seeing an unusually large number of early-childhood registration applications and recommended applying for a state startup grant to open a tenth preschool classroom.

Missy (staff member) told the board that preschool registration numbers grew rapidly after registration opened Jan. 15: she reported 63 registrations after day two, 74 after day five, and 93 as of the day she prepared her presentation. Administrators said these early totals are larger than typical and that the district already saves classroom slots for students with special education needs, English-language learners and Head Start placements.

Missy said the district can apply for a state early-childhood startup grant that would help open an additional classroom but stressed the grant is a start-up award, not guaranteed ongoing funding. She also noted a staffing challenge: the district’s preschool teachers are certified in early childhood and special education, a combined skill set that administrators described as in limited supply. The grant award is made after the Legislature’s cycle ends (presenters said awards are generally announced in May), and the district’s prior experience included receiving a grant but lacking time to recruit a qualified teacher.

The board discussed how state funding differs for 3- and 4-year-old programs: presenters said 4-year-olds generate state reimbursement (0.68 FTE in the district’s TOS funding formula was cited), whereas 3-year-olds do not receive the same reimbursement; that difference factors into decisions about whether a new classroom should serve three-year-olds or four-year-olds.

Administrators raised LB 71 (Nebraska Legislature), a law that lets districts decide locally whether certain children who are five at enrollment time but do not turn 6 before Jan. 1 remain in preschool rather than enter kindergarten. The board discussed whether to permit 5-year-olds in the preschool program under that local option and how those placements would affect available spots for threes and fours. Several trustees favored keeping the district’s existing approach for now and tasked staff to draft a policy for the February meeting.

Board members asked operational questions about capacity. The administrative presentation said the district’s nominal full capacity is roughly 102 spots for three-year-olds and 120 spots for four-year-olds across the preschool program; administrators reported serving more three-year-old registrations than they have historically seen and that daily application volume continued to rise during the registration window. (Exact counts vary by report in the presentation; Missy’s figures above reflect the numbers she cited while presenting.)

Trustees directed staff to move forward with applying for the state startup grant and to begin outreach and recruitment for a preschool teacher so the district can hire quickly if awarded funding. The board also asked staff to draft a clear policy on LB 71 and how the district will apply its local option for five-year-old placements; administrators said they would return with a recommended policy at the February board meeting. No final vote to open a classroom or hire personnel was recorded at the meeting — the board’s actions were directional: pursue the grant and present policy options.

"We pursue the grant," a trustee summarized during the discussion; "we start to advertise," a second trustee said, and Missy confirmed she will proceed with application work and coordination around capacity and policy drafting.

Administrators warned trustees that if the grant is awarded but the district cannot find a qualified teacher, the district would face a staffing constraint that could prevent using the grant. They recommended starting recruitment early while noting the grant’s award timing and the possibility of declining the grant if later analysis showed it was not needed or not feasible to staff.