In danger of losing funding, mobile preschool asked to justify
its program
There is more to the average preschool than meets the eye.
Finger painting, building with blocks, acting out stories,
singing songs, dancing, laughter
– even the occasional fighting – are just a few of the
activities seen in any good preschool program. Even if that
preschool program is taking place in the child’s own home.
In danger of losing funding, mobile preschool asked to justify its program
There is more to the average preschool than meets the eye.
Finger painting, building with blocks, acting out stories, singing songs, dancing, laughter – even the occasional fighting – are just a few of the activities seen in any good preschool program. Even if that preschool program is taking place in the child’s own home.
While it may seem like just fun and games, children going to preschool are developing critical skills needed for positive transition into kindergarten and a successful higher education experience.
“Money spent at the beginning is less money spent at the end, whether it’s in a classroom or in a prison,” said Lou Medeiros, Tres Pinos School principal and administrator of San Benito County’s Rural Mobile Preschool program. “I really believe that if we put more money in at the beginning of a child’s education many of those we now lose could be saved. No child is a throwaway.”
It is that thinking that prompted Medeiros to take over administrating the preschool in 2004, and why he is nervous about the life of the program. Although the program is now funded through First 5 San Benito, the organization is switching to a community collaborative funding process, which could adversely impact the mobile preschool, Medeiros said.
“We have been asked if we can run the program at a 50 percent cut and I think that was ludicrous,” he said. “I feel the program speaks for itself. It is unique to the state; we have an excellent person in Julie Dupris [the program’s specialist] who is empathetic to the needs of the people she helps.”
San Benito County’s Rural Mobile Preschool program serves 23 children living in the boundaries of the rural school districts of Bitterwater-Tully, Cienega, Jefferson, Panoche, southern Tres Pinos and Willow Grove, and these children attend classes both at home and at one of the six schools served by the program.
In part because First 5 funds have declined by about 3 percent in the last two years, First 5 San Benito has introduced a new collaborative process to help determine which of its programs will continue to receive funding. The new approach is meant to promote partnerships and eliminate the duplication of certain services.
Although he calls the new approach “noble,” Medeiros said it has put the mobile preschool at a disadvantage, as its program does not lend itself easily to partnership.
“First 5 is trying not to have redundancy in funding, and that is good,” he said. “But we have found out that it is very difficult to collaborate on our costs. We have 30 children, and we don’t know what all the hard costs are. We spend about $4,000 a child for the preschool, but as for how much it would cost us to supply dental screening or health visits, we don’t know.”
Last year, First 5 San Benito funded 24 separate programs; nine lead agencies are applying for a share of about $600,000 for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Most of the 24 groups from last year joined forces, such as Hollister Youth Alliance and Community Solutions. Tres Pinos is the only agency from last year who did not find a partner.
“Most of our efforts are cooperative, not collaborative,” Medeiros said. “With a collaborative partnership, money is exchanged and shared. With a cooperative partnership, such as what we have with the school districts we serve, the groups provide in-kind services, such as rooms to hold preschool classes, paper and materials.”
Because Tres Pinos School District administers the preschool, it would be financially responsible for any costs above what First 5 San Benito has funded, Medeiros said.
“If there was a shortfall, my board would have to find a way to cover it,” he said.
The mobile preschool had a budget of around $75,000 for 2007-08; Medeiros said he was asked by the First 5 San Benito Commission to try and cut that by 50 percent. Instead, Medeiros said he is working on a new application that trims his costs by 15 percent.
“There is no way we can cut costs by 50 percent. We’ve added students, we reach out almost to Coalinga and we’ve spent maybe $3,000 more and that’s only because fuel went up,” he said. “I’ve taken our budget down to about $62,000 by taking out my salary and not giving Julie a raise, but there’s not much else I can do.”
Principals of the rural schools, as well as the parents whose children are served by the rural preschool, are worried about the possibility of losing a program that does more than teach ABCs and colors.
“I don’t know what we would do without Julie,” said Ottalie Davis, the principal/teacher of Panoche School, where Dupris holds class at least once a week. “What she has provided us is amazing. We’ve already had a principals’ meeting to discuss what we need to do to help keep the program alive.”
“Socialization is so important, especially at this age,” said Nicole Gonzales, whose 18-month old son, Mateo, attends preschool classes at Panoche. “He gets to play with paints, which he doesn’t at home, and he gets the chance to be around others, which is great.”
Casey Castillo, First 5 San Benito’s executive director, says she agrees that the rural mobile is a great program, and hopes it will continue to receive funding.
“Even though we have less money this year than in years past, we haven’t turned anybody down,” Castillo said. “The mobile preschool provides a service no one else does. We are just working with them to try and trim their budget.”
Medeiros said another way First 5 could help existing programs is by trying to find them additional funding.
“One area First 5 has failed is in helping programs go out and find money,” he said. “It is very difficult for us to go find money because we are amateurs.”
First 5 San Benito did have a sustainability coordinator when it was first established in 2000, but Castillo said she chose not to replace the position after the original coordinator left two years ago as a way of saving on operational costs.
“I think we help them as much as we can,” she said. “We don’t have the resources to write grants for them, because we are such a small staff. But we would love to help them find funding.”
Castillo said the best way to ensure continued funding is for the agencies to fill out applications as correctly and thoroughly as possible.
“We would love to fund them all, but we are not going to be able to do so,” she said.
“It makes sense to try and get more bang for the buck, so to speak,” Medeiros said about First 5 San Benito’s new funding process. “But to ask us to justify ourselves is ridiculous. How can you put value on a child?”
