Without the benefit of quality early learning young children face the reality of entering kindergarten not ready. The recent elimination of funding for all 151 preschool slots the Bellevue School district served through Head Start funding was a devastating hit to our community. Children who enter kindergarten not ready are more likely to not read by 3rdgrade and not graduate from high school. Eastside Pathways and the community members got to work! With school readiness as an identified priority of the Partnership, we saw an opportunity to work in three areas related to the Head Start issue.
- Finding alternative funding for this school year, for as many of the 151 lost preschool seats as possible. Although the 151 seats were a mix of full-day and part-day preschool, we recognized that we would only be able to fund part-day preschool.
- Creating awareness and initiating conversations at the federal, state and local level about replacement funding for future years.
- Communicating and advocating to highlight the need that exists in Bellevue and the broader Eastside, so that there are no other cuts to services for our most vulnerable.
Recognizing that this is a community issue and not that of just the Bellevue School District (BSD) or the early learning community, as a first step the Eastside Pathways Partner Leadership Committee wrote a letter to the Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) expressing concern over removing all funding from Bellevue. Several conversations occurred between partners, including the Bellevue Schools Foundation, Bellevue School District, Eastside Pathways executive director, City of Bellevue, and Bellevue LifeSpring to discuss possible short-term funding solutions for this year. The Bellevue Schools Foundation took the lead in contacting media, including The Bellevue Reporter and The Seattle Times.
Knowing that it would be impossible to secure alternative government funding sources for this school year, the Bellevue Schools Foundation stepped up to spearhead an Emergency Early Learning Crisis campaign to raise private dollars for preschool funding. Community members and friends were inspired to make donations ranging from $20 to $5,000. As our community realized the devastating and lasting effect this elimination of early learning would have on these 151 low-income children and families, and encouraged by partner organizations and individuals, a decision was made at the August 2 BSD school board meeting to make a one-time allocation from surplus district reserves to fund 65 of the lost 151 preschool seats. This ensured that those preschoolers who were served in last year’s district Head Start program would be in preschool this year.
Efforts to help backfill funding are being supported by community and social service organizations. The Bellevue Schools Foundation early learning campaign has raised funds (to date) for six additional preschoolers. Two additional spots will be funded through a scholarship grant received from City of Bellevue Human Services, and BSD will access alternative funding available from the Department of Social & Health Services to place 37 of the displaced preschoolers in preschool classrooms.
All of this means that we have collectively secured funding for 109 of the lost 151 seats. There are still 42 income-eligible preschoolers whose preschool slot was cut, plus more on the wait list behind them. To help support the effort, click here. As we advocate to secure funding for the remaining 42 slots, Eastside Pathways and its Partnership arm will continue working to create support systems for all children from cradle to career, including the most vulnerable in the community.
Article written by Cathy Habib, lead facilitator at Eastside Pathways
Photos courtesy of the Bellevue School Foundation