Columbia Heights board hears plan to require VPK qualifications; administration to return with $345 fee for nonqualifying half‑day slots

The Columbia Heights Public Schools administration told the school board on Jan. 14 that a change in Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) rules will require most voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) slots to be reserved for qualifying students and asked the board to consider districtwide residency as a qualifying criterion. Administration said it will return on Jan. 28 with a formal action item proposing a $345 per month fee for nonqualifying families seeking a half‑day, five‑day weekly VPK slot.

The proposal matters because the district has offered free VPK for many years and is now required by MDE to limit funded slots to students who meet at‑risk or other eligibility criteria. Director Stonkel, who led the presentation with Assistant Superintendent Nwemwe and early childhood coordinator Carissa Curran, said the practical effect is that “if they lived out of our district, and didn't have a single one of those qualifiers, then they could not sit in one of our VPK slots. We cannot pay for that. So therefore then, those…