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Schools

Public schools to offer fraction of seats needed for pre-K

Although two-thirds of districts say they will participate in the new program, some of the largest won't.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published April 27, 2005

Two-thirds of Florida's 59 eligible public school districts have announced they will offer voluntary prekindergarten this fall.

The number of seats they will provide is minimal.

The districts reported they will have a total of 15,535 seats - many of them already available through existing school readiness programs - to serve an expected 154,597 4-year-olds.

Some of the state's largest districts, including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, declined to participate, citing a lack of space and money for the new program. Many smaller districts, Citrus and Pasco counties among them, said they would help offer pre-K in areas without private service.

Hernando, along with eight other counties, is barred from the program because it failed to meet class size reduction requirements for 2004.

The news comes on the heels of a tentative agreement between House and Senate budget conferees to use 5 percent of the $2,500 per student funding - $125 - to cover pre-K local administrative costs.

Early childhood experts said the two pieces of information, considered together, add to their fear that the state will not have enough seats when pre-K begins in August. "Capacity is absolutely a concern," said Linda Alexionok of the Children's Campaign. "Providers have stated publicly that they want to be fiscally prudent budget managers but they can't erase the overhead. They have consistently said $2,500 does not allow them to participate."

The Pinellas County Early Learning Coalition never expected the county school district to take part in the program. So the formal news that the district bowed out came as no surprise.

But combined with the prospect that $125 could come off the top of per-student funding, the absence of public school involvement becomes more troublesome.

"I hope they reconsider," said coalition executive director Janet Chapman, referring to the 5 percent administrative charge. "This has been very unsettling news."

Meanwhile, parents still cannot apply for pre-K, which is slated to open in August. Officials have said they hope to begin registration in May.

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 813 269-5304 or solochek@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 27, 2005, 00:47:14]