Kosciusko Among 18 Counties Considered for Pilot Preschool Grant
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
The $10 million Indiana Family and Social Services Administration program would provide pre-kindergarten funding for 4-year-olds from low-income families in five counties. Services would be delivered through public schools, accredited private schools and other state-approved providers.
Interested parties from each of the 18 counties – 12 urban and six rural, with an estimated 17,000 eligible kids altogether – are invited by the FSSA to submit a written “Statement of County Readiness” to be considered for the five spots. Statements would address readiness measures such as the county's ability to assist with meeting the financial match, participation of current and new providers, community and family engagement and county readiness for early launch in January, the announcement states.
“It’s like a beauty contest – we’ll have to figure out how to make ourselves pretty for the judges,” Tom Edington, Wawasee Community School Corp. superintendent, said this morning. “A lot of times, these types of grants go to urban areas, the ones closest to big cities, so I hope they’ll take a look this way.”
He said the pilot program could open the door for kids to attend who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, though he doesn’t know yet how the money might be delivered.
They’ve offered preschool programs in some fashion for a while, he noted, funded in part by state reimbursement. But that amount of money has been static for 20 years, requiring schools to pay more themselves to supplement preschool.
In narrowing down the list of eligible counties to 18, according to the announcement, FSSA and its advisory work group examined measures of suitability including the estimated number of children not currently receiving early learning services, the number of eligible providers and the percentage of children living in poverty in each county.
The 18 counties are Allen, Bartholomew, Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Howard, Jackson, Kosciusko, Lake, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Noble, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Vigo and Wayne.[[In-content Ad]]
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The $10 million Indiana Family and Social Services Administration program would provide pre-kindergarten funding for 4-year-olds from low-income families in five counties. Services would be delivered through public schools, accredited private schools and other state-approved providers.
Interested parties from each of the 18 counties – 12 urban and six rural, with an estimated 17,000 eligible kids altogether – are invited by the FSSA to submit a written “Statement of County Readiness” to be considered for the five spots. Statements would address readiness measures such as the county's ability to assist with meeting the financial match, participation of current and new providers, community and family engagement and county readiness for early launch in January, the announcement states.
“It’s like a beauty contest – we’ll have to figure out how to make ourselves pretty for the judges,” Tom Edington, Wawasee Community School Corp. superintendent, said this morning. “A lot of times, these types of grants go to urban areas, the ones closest to big cities, so I hope they’ll take a look this way.”
He said the pilot program could open the door for kids to attend who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, though he doesn’t know yet how the money might be delivered.
They’ve offered preschool programs in some fashion for a while, he noted, funded in part by state reimbursement. But that amount of money has been static for 20 years, requiring schools to pay more themselves to supplement preschool.
In narrowing down the list of eligible counties to 18, according to the announcement, FSSA and its advisory work group examined measures of suitability including the estimated number of children not currently receiving early learning services, the number of eligible providers and the percentage of children living in poverty in each county.
The 18 counties are Allen, Bartholomew, Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Howard, Jackson, Kosciusko, Lake, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Noble, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Vigo and Wayne.[[In-content Ad]]
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