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District reports expansion of preschool seats, new inclusion grant and outreach supports
Summary
Directors reported growth from 164 to 567 preschool students across 12 sites, new state funding and a million-dollar inclusion grant; district leaders highlighted community service specialists, development screeners, and plans for inclusive playgrounds and smoother transitions to TK and K.
The district’s preschool program has expanded substantially, district directors told the board on Jan. 23, reporting 567 enrolled preschool students across 12 sites and additional state funding to support further growth and inclusion.
Directors Amanda Drisco and Christina Haley described a push to remove enrollment barriers, including hiring community service specialists who help families with documents, income verification and access to resources. The district also received a state-funded preschool contract increase and an inclusion grant of about $1 million to bolster trauma-informed practice, mental-health consultants and inclusive-playground upgrades at Turnbull and other campuses.
Staff described how preschool and TK overlap for four-year-olds and said some families choose preschool because it provides longer daily hours. Directors said they are integrating preschool records into the district’s student information system to make transitions to kindergarten more seamless and are piloting formative and classroom-assessment measures to track early-learning outcomes.
Trustees praised the expansion and asked staff to continue integrating preschool with site communities, to ensure multilingual family outreach, and to consider capacity implications during the campus swap next year. No new board action was required; staff said they will return with ongoing updates as expansion work continues.
