MOORHEAD - In Joelle Hofer’s Jump Start preschool classroom, the 4- and 5-year-olds started their Thursday afternoon session by spelling “hello” and “today” and figuring out the date.
After that, it’s “work” time, which for 4-year-olds, is playing.
Looking on at the busy bunch, Hofer said Gov. Mark Dayton’s plan to fund universal public preschool could do a lot of good.
“Ideally, it would be a wonderful plan. You see a lot of growth from them” socially and intellectually, Hofer said. “We just need more space and we can make it happen.”
That’s a refrain repeated by several area school superintendents as they wait to see Dayton and lawmakers hammer out a final plan.
Dayton wants to fund public preschool for all of Minnesota’s 4-year-olds. His plan provides nearly $350 million in the biennium for preschool. He envisions 47,300 students in preschool in the first year and 57,000 in a few years.
Lynne Kovash, superintendent of Moorhead School District, says targeting dollars to poor students may be a way to get more bang for the preschool bucks.
“Really, just some more funding for what we’re already doing” could help a lot, Kovash said.
“We know that preschool education is valuable, especially for kids that don’t have all the literacy opportunities at home. We need to think about how we phase it in,” Kovash said.
There are also costs to rent or build classrooms and buy learning materials.
“We need to make sure our K-12 education is fully funded,” Kovash said.
Getting all kids into preschool should be everyone’s priority, said Doug Froke, superintendent of Detroit Lakes’ public schools.
Froke said a plan that would allow districts to contract out preschool, or include classroom time in summer, would help.
“It’s a good thing to put out there for discussion purposes,” Froke said.
Dayton and House and Senate lawmakers must find common ground, said Scott Loeslie, superintendent of the Barnesville School District.
“I would say Barnesville would favor an onsite preschool. But with that, certainly comes some questions for logistics and space,” Loeslie said.
“I would suggest some further study on it in terms of how it would impact districts across the state,” Loeslie said.
Warren Schmidt, superintendent of Rothsay School District, says with a new building opening this fall, his district has plenty of space.
“Bring it on. I’m 100 percent in favor of it,” Schmidt said. “We see it’s a lot easier for the kids to get accustomed to kindergarten. They get a head start on it.”
“We like the concept of being able to offer more,” said Deborah Wanek, superintendent of Pelican Rapids School District, but space issues could present a financial pinch there, too, she said.
“Research and data shows that if you can help catch kids up early, they have a more successful education career. The more we can help kids for early learning, the better,” said Diane Cordes, Breckenridge School District superintendent.
“Could we do it? We could if adequate funding followed the mandate,” Cordes said.
