Posted: Friday, August 28, 2015 10:00 am
By ALEX DAVIS Era Reporter a.davis@bradfordera.com
Whether the state would fund more preschool opportunities across McKean and Potter counties remains in question as the state budget impasse enters its third month next week.
Officials at the Seneca Highlands Intermediate Unit 9 are hoping for grant money to pay for the expansion of Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts programs at four school districts and to bring programs to two other districts, said Janice Vicini, director of early intervention program at the IU9. The money is being requested from the state Department of Education.
“In the near term, without a state budget in place, state Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental grants did not go out to pre-K providers across the Commonwealth, forcing them to make the hard decision to either solicit private bridge financing, operate off reserves or other funding sources or close state-funded classrooms altogether,” said Mission: Readiness Pennsylvania State director Steve Doster, who is a partner in the Pre-K for PA Campaign effort in advocating for high-quality preschool access for all children.
It was not immediately clear which expanded and new preschool programs are operating locally. But in an interview last week with The Era, one official from Oswayo Valley School District (Shinglehouse) in Potter County said a new pre-kindergarten program would be moving forward — even without the state funding.
Leaders crafted the IU9 grant application with knowing how vital it is reach children 3- to 5-years-old, Vicini said. Research shows that 90 percent of a child’s brain is developed in those early years, she said.
“And we want to make sure that our kids in our rural areas have the same opportunities as other kids across Pa.,” Vicini said.
There is a definite need for more pre-schooling in the region, according to information provided by Doster.
As a matter of fact, more than 850 children across McKean and Potter counties do not have access to high-quality preschool, he pointed out. Breaking the data down, 591 of 1,008 children in McKean County lack access to preschool; in Potter County that number is 268 children of 400 without access to pre-kindergarten.
“The Pre-K for PA campaign believes that high-quality pre-K should be available to all children — beginning with those most in need,” he said. “To accomplish this Pennsylvania needs to aggressively ramp up its investments over the next four years by about $400 million.”
Providers Acquire Bridge Loans; Classrooms Sit Empty and Threat of Closure Remains as a Result of Harrisburg Budget Impasse
ROYERSFORD (August 28, 2015)– The budget impasse in Harrisburg has left many Pre-K Counts and Head Start providers seeking bridge loans to keep their doors open or pondering closure of state funded classrooms, while potential new expansion classrooms sit empty awaiting a resolution to ongoing budget negotiations.
Pre-K providers were joined by superintendents from Pottstown and Spring-Ford school districts at Play and Learn in Royersford, in a newly constructed pre-k expansion classroom, which will remain empty until the level of pre-k funding is resolved with the overall state budget.
Without a state budget in place, Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental grants did not go out to pre-k providers across the Commonwealth, forcing them to make the hard decision to either solicit private bridge financing and pay the interest associated with that or close state funded classrooms.
Delaware County based Today’s Child Learning Centers took out a $130,000 bridge loan this week, which will enable them to operate state funded classrooms for about a month. “This loan helped us ensure that our doors remained opened to the 138 children and families that we serve in state programs,” said Erinn Rinn, Community Relations Coordinator, Today’s Child Learning Centers. “But even this is only a short term solution. Bridge financing will run out in October. In a real sense, the clock is ticking.”
Christine Fox of Warwick Child Care Centers in Chester County added that Warwick has also taken the risk of opening its approved Pre-K Counts classrooms to 56 children without any state funds, absorbing the salaries for 9 teaching staff and maxing out their line of credit and even their credit cards. “We hope that our story will help Harrisburg and our legislators realize the detrimental impact the budget impasse is having on thousands of children across the state, putting an irreversible strain on childcare employers and employees. Our ability to continue providing high-quality early childhood education to our PA Pre-K Counts children and families, as well as all of the additional families in our centers, is in danger if the budget is not passed. The clock is ticking for all of us,” continued Fox, adding that Warwick would like to provide an additional 14 seats if the program is expanded.
In Pottstown, a school-community collaboration is serving 360 children but still leaves out 278. “Our data shows that the PA Pre-K Counts students enter kindergarten better prepared than the district average. And, the Pre-K Counts students maintain that advantage throughout elementary school, with no evidence of fadeout,” said Dr. Jeffrey Sparagana, superintendent of the Pottstown School District. “We need more Pre-K Counts classes in Pottstown and across the Commonwealth to build strong, stable children and families.”
“Each year (under FY 2014-15 funding levels) more than 30,000 three- and four-year-olds in Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties are missing out on this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity. These kids don’t get a “do-over” if they miss out on high-quality pre- k. For them, this negotiation must also be about increased funding,” stated Shawn Towey of the Pre-K for PA campaign.
In Montgomery County 32 % of kids under five years old are living in families under 300% of the federal poverty guidelines, making them eligible for state funded pre-k programs. Only 6 percent of Montgomery County 3- and 4-year-olds have access to publicly funded pre-k. Play and Learn sits on additional empty classroom space awaiting much-needed state expansion funds so it can hire new teachers.
“We have this beautiful new classroom to educate our children, but without additional state funding, it will sit empty,” said Melanie Godhania, Program Operations Director for Play and Learn. “It is the reason why Pennsylvania needs a state budget now that further invests in pre-k.”
Kristine Helman, whose daughter is enrolled in Pre-K Counts at Play and Learn’s Blue Bell Center, joined the conversation on Friday. “For every spot in my daughter’s class, there are a dozen more families that need this program and couldn’t enroll their child. I am so lucky she had such an enriching early learning program. I can see how excited it makes her to learn new things every day. I worry that the budget delay is trimming valuable days off of the coming school year. Every day of lost learning, is one day less to ensure our kids are ready for kindergarten. I know that our elected leaders are supporters of pre-k, but they must recognize the impact that this will have on families.”
“High-quality pre-k is a critical investment in the future of our children,” said Towey. “Higher graduation rates, lower criminal activity, greater lifetime earnings, lower rates of special education – research has shown that all of these are results of quality pre-k programs.”
The Pre-K for PA campaign is calling on Governor Wolf and legislative leaders to return to the negotiating table and pass a budget with a significant investment in pre-k that gets us on the path to serving more of the 200,000 three and four-year olds without access.
Towey praised the bi-partisan support in Harrisburg for pre-k. She referenced that both the Republican proposed budget and Governor Wolf’s proposed budget grew funding for pre-k by $30 million and $120 million respectively. “We urge the legislature and Governor Wolf to not just pass a budget swiftly, but pass a budget with a major new investment in early learning.”
The Pre-K for PA campaign believes that high-quality pre-k should be available to all children – beginning with those most in need. Advocates say that to accomplish this Pennsylvania needs to aggressively ramp up its investments over the next four years.
“This will take at least $400 million in additional state investments over the coming years,” said Towey. “The greater the funding increase for pre-k in this budget, the sooner we get to the goal of making quality early learning accessible for every family.”
Pre-K for PA was launched in 2014 with the vision that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. This statewide coalition includes:Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children; Economy League of Greater Philadelphia; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; Mission: Readiness; Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children; Pennsylvania Head Start Association; Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children; Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children; Public Citizens for Children and Youth; and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. www.prekforpa.org
Express-Times Letter to Editor: Delayed State Budget Hurting Pre-k Programs
Back-to-school season is always exciting for a pre-K educator like me. I get to meet a new group of young learners who I know will benefit from the lifelong opportunity high-quality pre-K provides.
This year, however, my excitement is tinged with sadness because I know some 3- and 4-year-olds will be missing out on pre-K because of the lack of state funding and the absence of a state budget. As the governor and lawmakers continue to negotiate a budget that was due on July 1, young children are missing out on a pre-K opportunity they can never repeat.
In other words, an avoidable delay caused by grownups is having a lasting negative impact on our kids. Right now, only about one in six of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year-olds has access to high-quality pre-K, despite its proven benefits in preparing kids for success in kindergarten.
Even if Gov. Wolf gets the $120 million he wants, access would increase to just one in four kids. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s going to take several years of similar increases to make high-quality pre-K available to every family that wants it for their child.
It’s time for Wolf and lawmakers to enact a state budget that significantly increases pre-K access. I’ve seen the difference high-quality pre-K can have on a child’s learning and life, and I don’t want to see any more kids miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.
WENY TV: PA Budget Delay Affects Local Pre-K Programs
Wellsboro, P.A. (WENY) — Pennsylvania is only one of two states operating with no budget so far this fiscal year. Now in the 8th week past the deadline, area programs are starting to be impacted by the lack of funding.
More than $300,000 dollars, that is the price it is going to cost Bradford-Tioga Head Start to start on time given the delayed Pennsylvania State Budget.
“We decided, because we’ve done this before, we’ve had to close them before, this time around let’s get a line of credit that would support our programming until the state budget is approved and the funding would come forth,” said Executive Director, Jody Thomas. Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and Republican State Leaders remain at odds over the proposed $78.6 billion budget. Since it’s impasse not many local agencies have been affected, but with school right around the corner, many state funded early education programs are determining whether or not they can open.
“We see other programs that use other programs, other funding that they have, that they might be able to use for programming, and they are actually using that to stay open. So it’s money that could be used for other things that’s being used to keep the pre-k programs and there are some programs that are not opening right now,” said Stephanie Mock, a representative from Pre-K for PA. The Bradford-Tioga Head Start serves 400 out of the 14,000 enrolled children statewide. Even though the delayed budget is negatively impacting their programs, the proposed budget includes a $120 million increase in early childhood education.
Times-Leader: With state budget impasse, Head Start looks to borrow money to open on time
WILKES-BARRE — Lynn Biga, executive director of Luzerne County Head Start, said the agency will have to borrow money to be able to open on time and remain open.
The move comes as Head Start and other social services agencies await a budget resolve in Harrisburg where Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican majorities in the legislature appear miles apart on an agreement.
The state has been without a budget since July 1 and Biga said securing a $500,000 line of credit with a 3.25 percent interest charge will allow Head Start to keep its state-funded programs open until mid-December.
Biga said the agency’s annual budget is between $10 million and $11 million. Most of that — all but $2 million — is federally funded. The state allocation is $2 million, Biga said, and the two cannot be mixed, even though the monies are used for the same services.
Head Start, celebrating its 50th year in Luzerne County, provides a pre-school program for children ages 3 and 4, and an in-home Early Head Start Program for children from birth to age 3. Biga said there are 1,136 children in Head Start programs and a waiting list of others who want to be involved.
“Our state grants have been approved,” she said, “with no actual dollars received.”
The line of credit, secured through PNC Bank, carried an interest rate of 3.25 percent which will have to be paid back. Biga said the interest will be paid from the state allocation, taking valued dollars away from programming and services.
Of the 232 Head Start employees, 32 positions are paid with state funding. If the budget stalemate continues through the fall and into winter, Biga said programs could be shut down and staff laid off until there is a resolve.
“It’s not a good situation,” she said. “But it’s better than not having our children here in session and staff signing up for unemployment.”
Biga said if programs are shut down, parents will face difficult decisions about how to care for their children. She said most parents have jobs and would have to pay for babysitters or quit their jobs.
She presented charts that show the positive outcomes the Head Start program brings to pre-schoolers. The charts indicated that students show marked improvement in cognitive skills, literacy, math, language, physical fitness and social-emotional areas.
“It’s hard not to worry,” Biga said. “We have no idea when a state budget will be passed.”
Keiri Concepcion, 31, of Wilkes-Barre, was at Head Start’s Beekman Street facility Wednesday to register her 3-year-old son, Jeremiah. Concepcion said her older son went through Head Start and has been doing well in school.
“If this program wasn’t here, I would have to hire a babysitter,” Concepcion said. “And my son wouldn’t learn like he does here and he wouldn’t be interacting with other children his age.”
Biga has reached out to State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, for his help. Kaufer told her that Republicans have proposed Gov. Wolf restore line items that he and the GOP are in agreement with, but so far that option has not been agreed to.
“We’re approaching a desperate situation,” Biga said.
