Page 13 - Prek Counts News Today

When: Lampeter-Strasburg school board meeting Oct. 4, in person and streamed on YouTube.

Gov. Wolf Joins State and Local Leaders to Highlight Increased Early Childhood Education Funding 07/08/2021 Lancaster, PA - Governor Tom Wolf today visited the Community Action Partnership of Lancaster County to highlight the $30 million increase in early childhood education funding in the state budget. This new funding will allow an additional 3,270 children enroll in the state’s high-quality early learning programs. The governor was joined by Rep. Michael Sturla, Secretary of Education Noe ...

INDIANA SCHOOL BOARD PASSES BUDGET, APPROVES HIRING COMMITTEE FACILITATOR FOR GRADE CONFIGURATION DISCUSSION By Hometown2 Jun 28, 2021 | 9:57 PM On Monday night, the Indiana School Board approved their 2021-2022 budget, and it had some positive changes due to the budget being passed in Harrisburg. On Friday, the PA House and Senate both approved the 2021-2022 state budget, and Governor Tom Wolf said he would sign the budget this week.  The budget provided the district with a substantia...

Parents seeking child care struggle with access, costs JOSHUA BYERS, The (Johnstown) Tribune-Democrat June 26, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — As Megan Garman’s due date approached, she began making calls to several child care centers in the Johnstown area to get her daughter enrolled, but found herself signing up for waiting list after waiting list. “It’s very, very stressful,” she said. Garman began her search more than one year ago and is still waiting for a slot to...

Parents concerned over changes to Frazier School District pre-K program District limiting enrollment to those that qualify for federal program Share Updated: 6:17 PM EDT Jun 16, 2021 District limiting enrollment to those that qualify for federal program Share Updated: 6:17 PM EDT Jun 16, 2021 Hide Transcript Show Transcript SCHOOL DISTRICT. THESE PARENTS JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THEY WEREEARD H AFTER ARLENING ABOUT MAJOR CHANGES PLANNED FOR THE FRASER SCHOOL DIST...

THE ISSUE: From 2017 through 2020, the Pennsylvania General Assembly spent $203 million “just to feed, house, transport, and provide rental offices and other perks for lawmakers and their staffs,

The Chestnut Ridge preschool program was recently evaluated by a representative of PreK Counts in order to receive continued grant funding. The evaluation process includes a program review by a state-appointed specialist, who comes to the district yearly to observe instruction and analyze the operations of the program. This year, an evaluation was done virtually due to COVID-19. The program is evaluated on 36 indicators, including ratio, teacher and paraprofessional qualifications and continued...

But even with these investments, Pennsylvania is nowhere near the level of funding that NIEER recommends. The report calls for $12,000 per student, compared to the $6,850 per student the state spends now. And while Pennsylvania has increased overall spending on early childhood, it has not increased the basic rate of reimbursement for child care services since 2007. Quality or access? Maintaining quality and standards is a tall order in the state’s complex public-private system of child care a...

The pandemic was no match for the evolution of early childhood education in Franklin County. In September, First Start Partnerships for Children and Families officially opened the Chambersburg Early Learning Center. Although a COVID-19 surge changed plans to welcome preschoolers to the classrooms in November, a remote program was put in place until students could safely enter the new school in March. The facility hosts six Pre-K Counts classrooms, each with 18 students. Overall, First Start P...

Luzerne County Head Start Inc. will re-open 20 of its classrooms for in-person preschool services March 15 at 15 different sites in Luzerne and Wyoming counties. It will be for 131 preschool-aged children — approximately 10% of children LCHS is funded to serve. Classrooms have been closed for in-person learning since March 2020, with the exception of two Wyoming County sites that opened for a brief period in November before closing again due to increasing COVID-19 cases. “The benefits...