The Bolinas-Stinson Union School District is gearing up to offer a free 4-year-old preschool program next fall, an effort that will likely be completely funded by the district. Superintendent John Carroll said at Tuesday’s board meeting that the district is planning to release notices in local media next week, to gauge interest and start accepting early enrollment applications. “It’s a major project,” Mr. Carroll said. The district has studied a preschool program in past years and incorporated it into its strategic plan. It’s not cheap; the district estimates the program would cost about $180,000 in its first year, including upstart costs as well as salary and benefits for a full-time credentialed teacher, at $105,000, and an aide, at $50,000. (Costs will likely go down in the second year, but then rise with salary increases.) The district could spend less money on an uncredentialed instructor with only a child development permit, but Mr. Carroll believes it would be better to have a credentialed teacher with more training. The district has investigated state and federal funding opportunities, but it probably wouldn’t qualify for assistance, which is geared for areas with more low-income students, or requires participation in a regional consortium that would curb local control of the program. “I think the bottom line is… if we open a preschool, it’s in all likelihood going to be on our own dime,” Mr. Carroll said. In a written report to the board, the district said it would fund the preschool by “spending into the reserve or by making reductions in other areas. Given the substantial reserve…the district would have years to make adjustments in spending without fear of impending insolvency.” The preschool, only open to 4-year-olds, would likely be located at the Stinson campus, now home to kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade students—raising questions about the impact to those classes. One teacher noted that the district recently ended a lease with another preschool, Stinson Beach Preschool, to give more space to the district. (Susan Tacherra, the director of the Montessori-based preschool, said at the meeting that she was “thrilled” and would happily “consult and work with you to move this along.”) The district teacher also noted that an empty classroom used for breakout sessions was important given a multi-grade class there. “There will need to be plans that start long before next summer,” she added. The board, which has convened committees in the past to study a preschool, debated the best way to solicit more input, including creating a new board committee. But some worried that would slow down the process and potentially repeat work, though all generally agreed that some mechanism for input—perhaps a community meeting or superintendent’s committee, as well as ongoing board discussions—was important.