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What’s the future for pre-kindergarten in Branford?
At the May Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Board of Education Chair Frank Carrano suggested it is not equitable or right for a public school district to give one school the benefits of a pre-kindergarten program for kids turning 4, while not giving it to others.
He did not say that he would move to eliminate the pre‑K program now going into its third year at the Mary T. Murphy Elementary School if funds are not found for a new pre‑K program at the John B. Sliney Elementary School. But he did note the equity and ethical issues that might ensue if the district engaged in selective educational advancement.
Sliney was slated to get pre‑K this fall but town cuts to the school budget may preclude that.
The cost of the program is the cost of one teacher, Carrano said.
“I am not at all comfortable with having only one program at one school. We couldn’t justify providing for one and not all. This is a public school district. I don’t know how we can justify singling out one group of students for a benefit that the others don’t have,” Carrano told board members at their May meeting.
“I want to know what to do,” Carrano said of the developing pre‑K quandary. “If not this year, then maybe the next. If we can’t do it for all, then we shouldn’t do it at all. That is my personal opinion. I am putting it on the table,” he said as he asked board members to think about and be ready to discuss the issue at the June meeting.
Until recently the Murphy school was the only one in the district designated as a Title 1 school, which means it is eligible for financial assistance through state educational agencies because many of its children are poor. Now Sliney and Walsh Intermediate School are also designated Title 1 schools.
The numbers tell a part of the story. In Branford’s case, the number of students identified as low-income/poverty level increased from 12.9 percent in 2004 – 2005 to 19 percent in 2009 – 2010. School officials say there has been a bigger influx of ESL (English as a second language) students in addition to those affected by the economy.
The pre‑K program at the Murphy school goes into its third year this fall. The first two years were paid for by federal Title 1 funds. The next year stimulus funds were applied. Next year the cost of the program, essentially the cost of a teacher, will be drawn from the BOE budget.
Schools Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez wanted to expand the pre‑K program to the Sliney school starting next fall. Eventually, Carrano said, he wants the pre‑K program to extend to the Mary R.Tisko elementary school as well. The school budget has been pared back by $335,000 as a result of Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting cuts. School officials are now scaling back their original budget. The BOE budget now stands at $50.2 million.
In an interview, Carrano said, “We were intending to expand it to Sliney. My expectation is that the program would potentially be offered at all of our elementary schools, as a matter of equity and need. All our schools can benefit greatly from a professionally run pre‑K program, which is what we offer,” he said.
“My concern is that if we are not going to expand the program next year I feel we need a specific plan in place to lay out how the program will be implemented at each school and if it is not, then I feel by way of equity I don’t see how we can offer a program at one school that is not offered at the other schools.
Asked if he would consider eliminating Murphy’s pre‑K program this September if no funds were found for Sliney, Carrano replied: “Well… I am not saying we would eliminate the program at Murphy in September, but what I am suggesting … and this is something we (the board) haven’t even yet discussed, this is my own opinion., that if we continue the Murphy program for next year, then I think we would need to have a very specific funding plan, almost by way of a way commitment, that the following year we are going to fund Sliney and the year after that we are going to fund Tisko.”
He said what he was looking for was a plan by which all three schools will have pre‑k classes by the end of the third year. “It has to be that specific or else you are leaving it up to good intentions.
“We have some evidence that pre‑K is making an important difference to students.”
The board of education also learned that at least 15 teachers are retiring this year and that number might increase. “We are not eliminating these jobs,” Carrano said. “I think they likely will all be replaced. Ideally we will replace them at a lower salary,” he added.
Conceivably the difference in salaries between outgoing and incoming teachers might provide some funds for a pre‑K teacher at Sliney next fall.
Carrano did not rule out the possibility that funds might be found somewhere for the Sliney pre‑K program.
Sometimes that happens.
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The salary of one single teacher is the difference between children getting an education and not? That is $2, maybe $3 per person from each resident of the town. How cheap and shortsighted can you get?