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Special to The News & Record
Despite tight times, no cuts are proposed to the public preschool
program, although the two new schools and Sinai Elementary will not
have pre-Ks in-house.
Brand-new twin schools South Boston and Cluster Springs were not
designed with pre-Ks in mind, so their pre-Ks will go to the vacated
Washington-Coleman facility and the vacated Cluster Springs site,
respectively, in what's dubbed Early Learning Centers.
Provided that Turbeville and Wilson Memorial also are shuttered as
planned, their pre-Ks will go to the "old" Cluster Springs and
Meadville, respectively.
Some had feared that, with a budget deficit of almost $1 million,
trustees might shut down pre-K because it is not a mandated service.
About 206 four-year-olds are expected to attend public pre-K in the
coming year.
All of the pre-K schools will also house federally mandated Early
Childhood Special Education classes, which teach about 80 children as
young as two years old who have special needs.
The Halifax County School Board approved the pre-K plans at a Wednesday
afternoon work session.
While some parents and teachers had hoped that all pre-Ks would be kept
alongside the K-5 grades to make for an easy transition as the child
matures, Executive Director of Instruction Joe Griles said the Centers
will be "much more effective and feasible."
The two new hubs will be far larger than the pre-K presence at the
individual schools. The South Boston/Halifax Early Learning Center at
Washington-Coleman will have eight classrooms holding 72 pre-K children
and 32 Early Childhood Special Ed children. The Cluster Springs Early
Learning Center at the "old" Cluster Springs school will have 72 pre-K
students and 16 Early Childhood Special Ed children.
The other schools each will have one class of pre-K and one of Early
Childhood Special Ed, totaling about 25 youngsters at each site.
The Early Learning Centers will use as many classrooms as they need,
plus the cafeterias, libraries, bathrooms as well as rooms for art,
music and P.E., Schools Superintendent Paul Stapleton said. There will
be no operational costs at Washington-Coleman as the Town of South
Boston soon will own, and share space in, the building.
Stapleton noted that the pre-K program for four-year-olds receives no
local funding since the money comes from state and federal funds.
Pre-Ks receive art, music and movement once a week at The Prizery, plus
swimming lessons at the YMCA.