Hendry County leaders weigh charging preschool fees, restructuring inclusion classes as special‑needs enrollments climb
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Summary
District staff told the school board that rising numbers of students with disabilities are straining pre‑K inclusion classrooms. Officials outlined options — a proposed $100/week fee for non‑funded general‑education preschool peers, consolidation of remote classrooms, or moving toward smaller, self‑contained classes for higher‑need students — and said a formal proposal will return for a January vote.
Superintendent (Speaker 2) and district early‑learning staff told the Hendry County School Board Tuesday that a sharp increase in students with disabilities is stressing the district’s inclusion pre‑K model and imposing growing local costs.
Staff outlined the current inclusion model and the district’s fiscal exposure: inclusion pre‑K classrooms typically mix general‑education peers with students receiving exceptional student education (ESE) services (presented as an example mix of 8 general‑education to 12 ESE students). "We have 11 teachers in inclusion preschool and 22 paraprofessionals," staff said, and noted that general‑education preschool peers do not generate state funding for the district.
Why it matters: officials said the district is covering salaries, transportation and classroom supplies for non‑funded children, creating an expanding local cost burden as the number and intensity of ESE needs grow. Staff presented a range of program options and emphasized the board must set a direction before January so registration for the next school year can proceed.
What the district proposed: staff said one option under consideration is a per‑week charge for general‑education children who attend inclusion pre‑K. "If we were to charge a fee, we were looking at proposing a fee of $100 a week," a presenter (Staff member, Speaker 3) told the board, and noted current enrollment of about 86 non‑funded general‑education peers would yield roughly $309,600 at that rate — a figure the district said still would not cover the full program cost.
Alternatives discussed included consolidating remote classes (the Montura site was cited as struggling to retain enrollment), shifting some students into smaller, specialized classrooms of about 15 students focused on particular exceptionalities, or charging modest registration fees for programs funded by VPK with hardship exceptions. Staff emphasized that federal and state restricted funds such as VPK, migrant funds and Title I cover some but not all costs — for example, transportation and some facility expenses are not reimbursed.
Board response: members pressed staff for clarity on who makes up the unfunded general‑education pool (staff children and community applicants were cited), bus capacity for younger children, the developmental appropriateness of three‑year‑old classes, and the potential impact of fees on participation. One board member said attendance for general‑education preschool peers is inconsistent and urged caution about treating pre‑K as childcare. Another recommended safeguards for low‑income families if a fee were adopted.
Next steps: staff asked the board for feedback and said a formal proposal and vote would be brought back in January to allow time for registration planning. No final board vote on fees or program restructuring was recorded at Tuesday's meeting.
Ending: the board directed staff to return with a concrete plan in January that would include enrollment, transportation and hardship‑waiver logistics before any fee or model change takes effect.