7 days ago
Watertown City School District to reallocate universal pre-K slots
Aug. 6—WATERTOWN — The Watertown City School District Board of Education is moving forward with a controversial universal pre-K plan as presented during the district's budget process.
The board voted on Tuesday to designate eight community-based organizations, CBOs, to be partners with the district. It is then the superintendent and the district's administrative team that will allocate the students.
The district is looking to reallocate some of its UPK slots from community-based organizations and bring them in-house into the school district. Previously, the district had contracted all of its UPK programs.
After Tuesday's meeting, Superintendent Larry C. Schmiegel said the district will be using five of the classrooms previously used for UPK for its in-house programs.
The issue, which came up when the Board of Education passed the district's budget in May, has drawn the attention of Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown.
In a news release, Gray said that Jefferson County is in "crisis when it comes to child care access," as 72% of the county is classified as a child care desert.
Gray argues that removing the UPK slots from the community-based organizations would reduce available care, destabilize full-day services, and make it more difficult for families to get the support they need.
"We need to build a plan that preserves community capacity, avoids future taxpayer liabilities and ensures equitable access to care," Gray said in the news release. "That starts with listening to families and providers and building trust through true community participation."
Board member Rande S. Richardson was one of two "no" votes on the resolution. He says it's about the process the district followed to get to this point.
"We have decades of amazing service from our community partners and whenever we had an opportunity to talk to them, and Lori (Converse, fellow board member) were in a room with all of them, really all they were asking us to do is include them in the process like we would with any partner," Richardson said. "I realize we're way into the process, almost too late, but I just can't get behind it. It's not who I am, it's not who we are...I'm sad that we got to this point where we are today."
Converse said that "it's been a rough couple months."
"Community is huge for me, too. This school is as well, and this was one of those situations where they didn't collide the way I would like them to," she said.
Newly elected board president John A. Cain said it comes down to physical space, which he says the district does not have because of obligations to other students, contracts and programs.
"If we had the physical space, we'd be happy to share it with all our CBOs," he said. "It's not just we are going to vote on this resolution and walk away from it. We very much intend to be partners with our community partners to try to continue to find spaces that are appropriate for our pre-K programs to use."
Anthony Doldo, a Jefferson County legislator who serves on the Community Action Planning Council board, heavily criticized the decision during the meeting on Tuesday. The council is one of the district's CBOs.
"Larry, I'm sorry, but you were not clear with this community," he said, addressing the district superintendent. "This could've been worked out a long time ago before we even got to this point. We would've scrounged and found space, if need be, but not at the last minute ... I hope that things change. They need to change because these children in this community are the ones that are going to suffer."
He said that Community Action Planning Council members were willing and tried to talk with school administrators but never heard back.
Schmiegel said any change in the request for proposals process would start it over. He says he and the district have been advocating at the state level for more funding, which UPK providers say hasn't been increased in a decade.
"We will continue researching that and advocating," he said.
Schmiegel said CBOs should also be advocating for more funding at the state level.
Cain, newly elected board vice president Culley Gosier, and members Melanie Stano and Tina Fluno voted yes while Richardson and Converse voted no. Former board president Jason Harrington abstained from the vote, saying he serves on the board of one of the CBOs.
The Board of Education passed a resolution allowing for Schmiegel to look at using building spaces involved in a capital improvement project as a "swing space" and to see if they can use the space for pre-K.
"I don't think we got this one entirely right, that's obvious," Cain said. "All we can do is take our licks from the community, which I'm sure we will, and we are, and we will try to learn our lesson and get it better next time."
Schmiegel said that if the resolution did not pass Tuesday night, it would have been tabled and UPK would not start in September for any of the CBOs.
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