Douglas Unified raises preschool tuition, expands schedule and closes one site

The Douglas Unified School District board approved changes to its preschool program, including moving from a four-day to a five-day schedule, increasing daily hours at most sessions, closing one site for funding reasons and raising tuition fees.

Administration told the board the district’s preschool currently operates four days per week and that moving to five days will provide more instructional time and benefit families. “So we technically, right now, our our program meets 4 days out of the week,” the presenter said when introducing the proposal. The district proposed increasing regular classroom days to Monday through Friday and lengthening most sessions from roughly 2.5 hours to 3 hours on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; Wednesdays will remain shortened to allow staff professional development.

Administrators provided site-specific times: Joe Carlson and Stevenson morning sessions would run 8:00–11:00 and afternoon 11:45–2:45 under the revised schedule. The Douglas High School “Little Bulldog” program will move to the districtwide schedule; morning sessions there would start at 8:15 with an 11:15 end, and afternoon sessions would run 12:00–3:00. The Wednesday instructional windows were described as AM 8:00–10:00 and PM 11:45–1:45 at some sites.

To address program cost, the board approved raising the preschool tuition from $60 to $75 per month to cover the additional day of service. Administration also recommended charging $60 for speech-only visits for students who come only for speech services; students receiving other special-education services would not be charged the speech-only fee. The administration stated the Clawson preschool will close because of funding constraints.

Board members asked about parent communication and delinquent payments. Administrators said parents are told about fees when registering, school-based parent liaisons collect payments or families can pay at the business office, and the district tracks payments in shared Google Sheets. Administrators described a process of weekly checks, reminders to parent liaisons, teacher reminders, followed by phone calls from the business office and administrators when accounts remain delinquent.

A board member also raised a security question about the Little Bulldog preschool entry at Douglas High School and asked whether the district had considered adding a decorative gate or other measure to limit direct exterior access. Administrators said they had discussed perimeter security and a deadbolt but had not taken specific action; the issue was noted for follow-up discussion.

The motion to approve the tuition increase and schedule changes passed by roll call. The transcript records most members voting yes; one member stepped out during or just before the final roll call. The board directed administration to finalize details and notify families after the board’s approval.