COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS Preschool was a logistical boon for Delice Downing and an educational bonanza for her son, Adrian.
The head volleyball coach and director of student life at Coffeyville Community College had ruled out day care when she heard the price: several hundred dollars a week.
Then Adrian reached preschool age. Coffeyville offers something most Kansas communities dont: free attendance at a preschool with room for nearly all kids in town whose parents want it.
About 200 3- and 4-year-olds attend the school districts Early Learning Center either half or full-day.
Im a coach. Its impossible we travel all the time, Downing said. So having him here these past two years has helped. I know that hes in good hands. He is safe.
Quality options that keep kids safe and nurtured run in short supply in Kansas and often break the bank. A run-of-the-mill day care can cost more than college. Preschools like Coffeyvilles require staff, space and money that many districts dont have.
State officials want a solution.
Better access to child care and preschool would help more parents balance work and family, they say, maintain steady incomes and learn parenting skills. Kids would get the extra nurturing that strengthens their academics in the short-term and cuts crime and poverty down the road.
Some communities have forged ahead by splicing together school and Head Start funds, child care subsidies, grants, and gifts from philanthropists and local businesses. How many towns and cities can find similar paths?
Cornelia Stevens leads The Opportunity Project in Wichita, or TOP. It serves 600 mostly low-income kids ages one through five, largely for free.
If you dont have a safe place to take your child, you cant work, Stevens said. And thats a reality.
Yet even TOP, one of the states most celebrated models for increasing early childhood education, cant serve all the families that need it.
We actually have conversations almost annually about, ‘OK, do we expand? Stevens said. Were trying to make sure first that we can really provide the level of support thats needed to serve the children and families.
Quality versus nothingness
During his two years at preschool, Adrian blossomed from a shy, quiet toddler into a talkative 5-year-old toting books home from the mini library and bubbling with stories for mom about teacher praise for his excellent napping skills.
