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County preschool program plans full‑day expansion, reduced class sizes and rate increases noted
Summary
Mendocino County Office of Education presented its state preschool self-evaluation and plans: centralized enrollment, multilingual family liaison, a planned full-day site at Talmadge (07:30–17:30), reduced class sizes (24→16) with an internal 1:6 ratio, and a state rate increase cited from $33.19 to $43 per child per day to offset costs.
Kristen Hills, director of Early Education and Care at the Mendocino County Office of Education, presented the annual state preschool self-evaluation and walked the board through program changes for the coming year. Hills said the office moved to centralized enrollment, added a multilingual family liaison (Jose) to improve access for Spanish-speaking families, and is planning full-day preschool at Talmadge with eligibility tied to demonstrated family need.
Hills described program-quality changes including the state's shift from the ECERS tool to CLASS and the county's internal adoption of the Teaching Pyramid social‑emotional framework. She told trustees, "We're gonna be offering 07:30 to 05:30 for, preschool here at Tallmadge." Hills also said the state rate the office provides to subcontractors will increase from $33.19 per child per day to $43 per child per day, which staff said should help offset smaller class sizes and maintain staffing levels.
Other changes include reducing maximum class size from 24 to 16 and adopting an internal 1:6 adult‑child ratio; the county will continue to serve children with IFSPs/IEPs (staff reported 25% current representation versus the 5% required minimum). Hills noted inventory controls and possible hiring of a preschool coordinator pending budget developments; the board was told to expect budget updates with the May revision.
