A dozen children are pre-enrolled for a public 4-year-old preschool program slated to start next fall at Bolinas-Stinson Union School District—enough potential students to get planning underway for the free program. Yet two other area preschools are worried about how it will impact their enrollment.
The program will be the county’s only free preschool that is not restricted by income; other public programs—there are six in the county either underway or getting underway next year—are subsidized by the state and only available to low-income families, said Ericka Erickson, the Marin County Office of Education’s child care coordinator.
Despite being the first of its kind, it wasn’t clear until recently if the Bolinas-Stinson program would have enough kids for a preschool. The district’s pre-enrollment period was extended to Dec. 5 because by last week, only three or so children had pre-enrolled, not enough for a viable program. But that has changed.
“Suddenly the word must have gotten out. It looks like we’ll have enough students to move forward,” said John Carroll, the district’s superintendent.
The program is accepting applications from children outside the district, but so far all but one of the children live within the district. Mr. Carroll does not anticipate the program reaching capacity—a cap would likely be roughly two-dozen students—but said 15 or 16 students would be “wonderful.”
State funding for the program is unlikely, so the district is planning to cover the cost of the preschool, or about $180,000 the first year, for a credentialed teacher and an aide.
Mr. Carroll said he hopes a teacher will be in place by the spring, and said a programmatic steering committee will soon be formed to help shape the preschool. “We have a lot of local talent and knowledge of what preschools can look like,” he said.
There are two other preschools in the area—the Bolinas Children’s Corner and Stinson Beach Preschool, the latter of which operates out of a portable classroom on school district property.
Laura Distasi, director of Bolinas Children’s Corner, is worried about the decades-old preschool, which enrolls 21 children, including toddlers. “I’m concerned because they would be competing with us… if we lost all our 4-year-olds, it changes the nature of what we do,” she said, adding that it would effect staffing, too. (Though not free, Ms. Distasi noted that they offer scholarships and operate year-round.)
Susan Tacherra, Stinson Beach Preschool’s director and head teacher, said she has two feelings about the coming preschool. “One is really great: we need a free preschool,” she said. Yet her staffers are also worrying about their jobs.
That’s also because their classroom will not be able to remain on the district’s property after next summer, due to septic setback regulations. “The building does have to go away,” Mr. Carroll said this week.