Oak Hill United School Corp. to discontinue paid preschool program after years of low enrollment and deficits

The Oak Hill United School Corp. board moved to discontinue the district's paid preschool program effective at the end of the 2025–26 school year, citing persistently low enrollment and multi-year deficit spending.

Presenters told the board the program launched three years ago and initially saw strong demand, but attendance and payments dropped in subsequent years. Administration reported enrollment had fallen to about 11–12 students at the end of the most recent year and that the program had run approximately $20,000 in deficit over three years. "We ended up in deficit spending . . . we're about 20,000 in the negative over three years," one presenter said when explaining why the district could not sustain the paid program in the current budget environment.

Board materials and presenters stressed this action applies only to the paid preschool; the district's developmental/needs-based preschool will continue to operate and, where students from the paid program join the developmental program, the district proposed a half-day option with a reduced fee ($50 per week) for those placements.

The motion to discontinue the paid preschool program was made during the meeting; the transcript shows the motion was moved and discussed. The record does not include a roll-call vote tally in the provided segments. Administration flagged enrollment and wider kindergarten projections (the district noted about 70 kindergarteners currently enrolled, below historical norms) as part of the financial justification.