WJCC Redistricting: Pre-K Questions, Answered

By Amber Lester Monday, April 19, 2010

As the Williamsburg-James City County School Board readies to vote on a redistricting plan Tuesday, parents are questioning its methodology.

At the board’s April 13 meeting, several citizens asked why classrooms were being set aside in some of the crowded schools for additional preschool space. Previous governor Tim Kaine advocated for a massive expansion of the preschool programming in Virginia, but these citizens said the new governor, Bob McDonnell, was unlikely to maintain that commitment. They also suggested the entire redistricting plan had been based on numbers that included future preschool students, rather than current students in the division’s elementary and middle schools.

Preschool projections were not included in the numbers used to draft redistricting maps, according to Alan Robertson, the facilities manager for the division. He said the numbers used to determine capacity began with kindergarten in an effort to preserve space for the division’s preschool classrooms.

"We worked hard to get the strategic plan for pre-k," said school board member Elise Emanuel. "I do not expect to support an alteration at this time."

To better understand the preschool program and how its growth projections affect redistricting, WYDaily talked to Renee Dino, supervisor of WJCC’s Early Childhood Program.

What is the existing preschool program?
WJCC provides preschool services for two- to five-year-old children who are at-risk or have developmental delays or physical disabilities. Schools are federally mandated to provide services for special education students, which is part of why space has to be available if the program continues to grow, Dino says.

In 2007, the program “exploded,” she says. The school board asked her to come up with a strategic plan to address its growth. In the 2002-2003 school year, the preschool program served 227 students; in the 2005-2006 school year, it had 297 students enrolled. As of about two weeks ago, the program had 362 students enrolled.

Classroom sizes vary depending on the needs addressed; for students with physical disabilities, a classroom might have 8 students, while a classroom for at-risk children might have 12 students. Currently, the division has seven preschool classes at Rawls Byrd Elementary; 10 at Norge Elementary; three at D.J. Montague; five at Stonehouse; and two at James River. Many of those classrooms are housed in trailers, Dino says.

To project enrollment, WJCC compares the current numbers of preschool students to the subsequent enrollment for Kindergarten the following year. In the past, they’ve found the preschool numbers to be approximately 43 percent of the Kindergarten numbers.

How is the program going to expand?
In 2007, Dino created a long-term pre-school strategic plan with five major recommendations to address the division’s needs: create program sites, implement a summer transition program into Kindergarten, create a universal point of entry into the program, increase the staff to include an administrative assistant and instructional specialist, and collaborate in the community for professional development.

She envisioned consolidating the preschool program into three sites within the school division in an effort to provide comprehensive services equitably across the city and county neighborhoods. Norge Elementary is currently the home of the NEED Center, a preschool for students with disabilities between the ages of 2 and 5. Bright Beginnings and Head Start are also located at the facility. Dino would like to replicate the NEED Center’s offerings at the other program sites.

During the planning process, the school board decided to create four program sites, instead of three. When school begins next fall, there will be four pre-school classes at Clara Byrd Baker, eight at J. Blaine Blayton, 10 at Norge and seven at Rawls Byrd.

How is the program expansion funded?
The majority of the funding is provided locally and through state funding from the Virginia Pre-school Initiative funds, along with funding for special education. Some stimulus money geared toward preschool education funded the Kindergarten transition initiative, while a grant from Wolf Trap paid for the professional development initiative.

While Dino isn’t sure what Gov. McDonnell envisions for the future of preschool in Virginia, she says his budget proposal included level funding for preschool programs. In addition, the General Assembly capped the local composite index score for preschool funding two years ago, sending more money WJCC’s way.

Many parents have said less support from McDonnell means the expansion can’t happen. But Dino says the expansion was planned as a solution to WJCC’s problem, rather than a reaction to Kaine’s desire to provide more preschool services statewide. “A few years ago when our population grew, we were trying to find space where space was available, but it wasn’t necessarily cohesive,” she says.

What constitutes a “classroom”?
Throughout the redistricting process, board members have talked about what percentage of each school’s capacity would be filled under various plans. In October, the board agreed to aim for filling each elementary school to 85-88 percent of its capacity. The most recent redistricting plan, based on numbers calculated by member Joe Fuentes, would have all but three schools reach that goal. Clara Byrd Baker would be at 90.55 percent capacity, while Stonehouse Elementary would be at 83.27 percent capacity and James River Elementary (which was left out of the plan in order to preserve its Title I funding) would be at 80.69 percent.

While the board has looked at the total capacity in terms of percentages, Dino says she looks at preschool projections in terms of “classrooms.” That doesn’t necessarily mean brick-and-mortar classrooms will be set aside and sit empty if projections turn out to be incorrect, she says. Any extra space would be used according to the school’s needs; for example, a principal might choose to utilize extra space to create a core area where specialists can work with students or as a rehearsal area for part of the school orchestra, she says.

“There will be no surplus space,” Dino says. “If anything, people will have a little breathing room.”