On January 25, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. at Mary Hogan Elementary there will be a PUBLIC HEARING, regarding Addison Central Supervisory Union (ACSU) setting a “Prekindergarten Region.” State agencies would like to hear from parents and caregivers (and any interested parties) on how a “Prekindergarten Region” will affect your family.
What does an ACSU Prekindergarten Region mean and who does it impact? If ACSU’s region is approved it will impact families who live in Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Sailsbury, Shoreham, and Weybridge and have children who are 3, 4, or 5 and not enrolled in kindergarten. How it could affect them is by limiting where their family can access prekindergarten funding. If a region is set families would only be able to access prekindergarten funding if they send their child to a pre-qualified program within the region. So if you live in 1 of the 7 towns and send your child to a pre-qualified program in 1 of the 7 towns you will be able to access funding. However if you live in 1 of the 7 towns and send your child to a pre-qualifying program, say in Vergennes, your child would not be eligible to receive prekindergarten funding.
If you are one of the families (it’s believed to be about 20% of eligible children will not qualify for funding if the region is set) your voice needs to be heard!! Attend the hearing at Mary Hogan on January 25th at 5:00 p.m. or send your concerns and comments by 1/26/2016 to: Melissa Riegel-Garrett, Vermont Agency of Education 219 North Main Street, Suite 402 Barre, VT 05641 or email Melissa.RiegelGarrett@vermont.gov
Here are some other points to think about, why a region might not be right for ACSU:
1. The eligible early childhood partner programs in ACSU do not have the capacity to serve all ACSU eligible children. Currently 10% of ACSU eligible children attend programs in Chittenden County and another 10% attend programs out of district for a total of 20% being served by programs outside of ACSU.
2. Currently eligible early childhood programs in ACSU are successfully partnering with other SU’s from other areas of the state.
3. Currently ACSU is partnering with programs outside of the ACSU boundaries.
4. This proposal puts ACSU children and families at a disadvantage, particularly low-income families who are not as proactive in finding and securing childcare and are often forced to find an early childhood program out of the ACSU district. Without access to ADM funding, choices for these families are limited by program affordability without regard for program quality.
5. All our ACSU communities are anxious to attract young families. With this proposal, a family with a 3 or 4 year-old child, who need to commute to Chittenden County or Rutland will be unable have their child near them during the workday making our community significantly less attractive. They can live a few miles closer in a partnering SU, and if they have two children, get $12,368 in tuition support, not possible with the ACSU proposal.
6. A commuting family working traditional business hours cannot successfully commute to Chittenden County or Rutland and still be able to get to any of the ACSU eligible early childhood programs before they close at the end of the day. This further limits a family’s ability to locate in an ACSU town.
7. We would like to see ACSU as a model supervisory union with progressive family and child friendly values and practices. This proposal is the antithesis of this vision. It is regressive and unfairly stigmatizes ACSU as a district with a narrow vision.