Cincinnati Public Schools officials on Jan. 22 told the school board that preschool enrollment has increased and that the district is funding seats through a variety of federal, state and local sources.

“Currently enrolled, we have 657 age‑3 students,” Vera Brooks, CPS early childhood education director, told the board, and she said the district ended the last school year with 2,049 students enrolled in preschool programming. Brooks said that, as of the meeting, 1,944 students were being served in CPS preschool classrooms.

Brooks said CPS funds seats through multiple sources. “Currently, 701 of our preschool seats are funded through Head Start. 600 of our seats are funded through the early childhood state grant, and 120 of those 600 seats are part of the state pilot for full‑day preschool,” she said. She added that the district uses expansion dollars, Title I and tuition to support seats and that families may also be served through magnet, Montessori and preschool‑disability classrooms.

The presentation emphasized instructional supports and partnerships. “We have implemented a state‑approved curriculum with common assessments through TS Gold,” Brooks said, adding the district has about a dozen active state‑approved trainers and more than 120 hours of locally created, state‑approved professional development. She listed partners including the Literacy Lab, Mission to Move, Project Connect, Help Me Grow, the Cincinnati Fire Department, Great Oaks and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Brooks described work on “winter to go” learning bags and other family supports.

Board members used the presentation to press for planning and data. Board member Craig said preschool figures should inform the board’s levy discussions and suggested the district consider how private providers receiving expansion dollars feed students into CPS kindergarten. Board member Mapp asked whether tuition assistance declines were causing families to pay out of pocket; Brooks responded that expansion of other grants, including the state grant and the full‑day pilot, accounted for some shifts and said, “we do our best that a family never has to come out of pocket based on family poverty levels.”

Vice President Bolton and others asked whether CPS has reached a saturation point in available preschool seats. Brooks and Superintendent Murphy said the district is shifting from expansion to sustaining and improving quality under new state guidelines (Step Up To Quality) and said tracking where children live remains a challenge.

The board thanked Brooks for the presentation and noted the slides and data are available on BoardDocs.

Less critical details: the presentation included examples of classroom activities, a description of family service assistants and a list of student recruitment sites (Parker Woods Montessori, Sayler Park, Mount Washington, Walnut Hills and SCPA). Board discussion touched on the district’s preschool strategy as an element of any upcoming levy planning.