Haddon Township says it lacks space for state preschool expansion despite exploring options
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Summary
District officials said they investigated buying or repurposing facilities and potential partnerships, but currently lack the space required for state preschool expansion, which requires capacity to serve roughly 90% of the universal preschool population.
At the information session, Assistant Superintendent Sean Pelschor addressed the state's preschool expansion program and the district's recent review of options. Pelschor said the district evaluated possible facility purchases and partnerships with community providers but concluded it does not currently have the necessary space to meet program requirements.
Pelschor explained the state's benchmark for expansion programs: districts must be able "to accommodate 90% of your universal population within your community within 5 years." He said that requirement, combined with a lack of immediately available facilities, led the district to pause pursuing the state expansion grant at this time, though he did not rule out pursuing opportunities in the future.
The district noted potential strategies other systems have used'including repurposing buildings, partnering with Head Start or private preschools, or busing students to alternative sites'but said those approaches did not resolve capacity constraints for Haddon Township.
What comes next: the district will continue to monitor opportunities and said it remains open to partnerships or facility solutions that would make expansion feasible.