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Preschool offerings to be expanded
By Megan Harris, Messenger-Inquirer
The Owensboro Public Schools Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to expand preschool education by implementing up to four tuition-based classes at Foust Elementary and hiring two additional teachers for the 2012-13 school year, while also beginning the process to expand Hager Preschool.
Location and cost for the upcoming tuition-based program have yet to be determined. OPS Superintendent Larry Vick said he hopes to charge parents no more than “whatever it takes for us to break even. This is a service to the community,” he said. “I’m not looking to make a profit.”
The tuition program would join others of its kind, including Daviess County Public Schools, which staffs 16 teachers for more than 600 students among 12 schools. Like DCPS, OPS administrators hope to continue the two-session-per-day model, including transportation and lunch.
At present, Hager serves about 400 students.
OPS will begin accepting applications for the two certified teaching positions this spring. If demand for either the current state-funded program or the new fee-based program rises, Vick said the board will consider adding up to two additional positions in the fall.
As its final action Thursday night, the board voted unanimously to hire local architectural firm RBS Design Group to do a preliminary study of Hager Preschool to present different building options and their estimated costs.
During his proposal, architect Craig Thomas appraised the current building. With an addition, he said the property would need to supplement with either a building-wide sprinkler system or firewall and possibly enlarge a nearby water retention basin. Building materials, parking expansions, lighting, energy conservation and the like would also factor into future costs.
“Those are decisions that you all have to make,” Thomas told the board. “What might cost you now will save you down the line, but it depends on what matters most when you decide you’re ready to build.”
Vick offered no timetable for the project, pending Thomas’ review and future discussions with the Hager staff.
OPS’s preschool push coincides with Gov. Steve Beshear’s budget proposal to pump $15 million more into preschool programs statewide.
Kentucky currently provides funding for 4-year-old children in families whose income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty level to attend preschool and fully funds preschool for all qualifying 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities.
Beshear’s proposal recommends raising the eligibility for 4-year-olds to 160 percent of the poverty level in fiscal year 2014, with an additional 40 percent jump by the end of Beshear’s term.
The initial expansion to 150 percent would allow 4,430 more 4-year-olds — about 18 percent — to attend preschool. Expanding to 200 percent would add an additional 3,920 children, educating an estimated total of 8,350 more children.
The state funding would not affect local, tuition-based programs.
Megan Harris, 691-7302,
mharris@messenger-inquirer.com
Location and cost for the upcoming tuition-based program have yet to be determined. OPS Superintendent Larry Vick said he hopes to charge parents no more than “whatever it takes for us to break even. This is a service to the community,” he said. “I’m not looking to make a profit.”
The tuition program would join others of its kind, including Daviess County Public Schools, which staffs 16 teachers for more than 600 students among 12 schools. Like DCPS, OPS administrators hope to continue the two-session-per-day model, including transportation and lunch.
At present, Hager serves about 400 students.
As its final action Thursday night, the board voted unanimously to hire local architectural firm RBS Design Group to do a preliminary study of Hager Preschool to present different building options and their estimated costs.
During his proposal, architect Craig Thomas appraised the current building. With an addition, he said the property would need to supplement with either a building-wide sprinkler system or firewall and possibly enlarge a nearby water retention basin. Building materials, parking expansions, lighting, energy conservation and the like would also factor into future costs.
“Those are decisions that you all have to make,” Thomas told the board. “What might cost you now will save you down the line, but it depends on what matters most when you decide you’re ready to build.”
Vick offered no timetable for the project, pending Thomas’ review and future discussions with the Hager staff.
OPS’s preschool push coincides with Gov. Steve Beshear’s budget proposal to pump $15 million more into preschool programs statewide.
Kentucky currently provides funding for 4-year-old children in families whose income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty level to attend preschool and fully funds preschool for all qualifying 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities.
Beshear’s proposal recommends raising the eligibility for 4-year-olds to 160 percent of the poverty level in fiscal year 2014, with an additional 40 percent jump by the end of Beshear’s term.
The initial expansion to 150 percent would allow 4,430 more 4-year-olds — about 18 percent — to attend preschool. Expanding to 200 percent would add an additional 3,920 children, educating an estimated total of 8,350 more children.
The state funding would not affect local, tuition-based programs.
Megan Harris, 691-7302,
mharris@messenger-inquirer.com
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Realist wrote on Jan 27, 2012 8:36 AM: