Universal pre-k makes its debut in Gunnison County

Teacher incentive programs facing $70k budget shortfall

By Katherine Nettles

As a new school year begins for the Gunnison Watershed School District, plenty of local preschoolers are also embarking on journeys of their own into the classroom. Universal preschool programs across Gunnison County are making their debut this fall since Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill into law last year providing preschool for all children the year before they enter kindergarten. 

Teacher retention, however, is still a struggle and incentive programs are running into a significant budget shortfall.

Universal preschool funding is coming from the state’s previously established preschool program serving children with certain risk factors, and from a nicotine tax which Colorado voters approved in 2020. These funds come to the county to manage, and in mid-August, members of the Gunnison County Early Childhood Council (ECC) met with Gunnison County commissioners to discuss how the program is rolling out and how some of the county’s other preschool initiatives have fared. In some cases, the funding for established teacher incentive programs is dwindling and the hope is to secure additional resources to continue incentives for teachers like food boxes, paid sick leave and even money stipends. The programs need what amounts to an additional $70,000 to continue. And unless wages come up, county staff say those incentives may not succeed in retaining newer teachers. 

 There are 120 children enrolled in the local universal preschool program for this year. That includes five children located in Hinsdale County, which has joined with Gunnison County for the process as it does for most health and human services programs. There are 14 children enrolled full-time (30 hours per week) at a cost of $10,669 per child for a total cost of $149,375; 106 children are enrolled part-time (15 hours per week) at a cost of $6,068 per child for a total cost of $643,257 annually. 

“A lot has changed since the state put [universal Pre-k] out,” remarked ECC coordinator Margaret Wacker. Among the changes have been adjustments like adding more hours allowed for part-time and full-time students, and expanding the program eligibility to age three if there are certain risk factors involved such as low income, involvement with intervention programs, etc.

“Overall, it seems to be going well in our community. There’s definitely been some hiccups and frustrations statewide, but I think that our team has been amazing and really focusing on the individual families to make sure that they are getting connected to services,” said Wacker. 

At the state level, Wacker said many programs have struggled because eligibility cutoffs based on birth dates don’t match up between individual school districts and the state requirements. This has, in some cases, left a gap where a child is too young to qualify for state-sponsored universal preschool but will begin kindergarten the following year based on their district’s age cutoffs.  

Gunnison County was able to work around that complication and get all children who would be starting kindergarten next year enrolled if they so wished, said Wacker. 

In the North Valley, Paradise Place Preschool, Stepping Stones Children’s Center and Little Red Schoolhouse participate in the program, and in Gunnison, Tenderfoot Child and Family Development Center, Lake School (part of The Gunnison Watershed School District) and Wonderland Nature School do as well. Among them, there are six full day openings for students at Wonderland, nine full day openings at Tenderfoot, two potential openings at Stepping Stones and two potential openings at Paradise. There are also six licensed family childcare home facilities, although two of them have retiring providers and may close. The main hurdle in creating more childcare openings is teacher retention, which relates to housing availability, affordability and adequate wages. 

Incentives…and dwindling funds 

Lana Athey, Gunnison County early childhood services supervisor, said there are several incentive programs aimed at supporting preschool teachers and staff, namely sick leave, financial stipends and food boxes.

The ECC supported 78 teachers from August 2020 through June 2023 with paid sick leave at a cost of $18,000–$25,000 annually. That program has cost $61,000 so far (this year and last), with the majority of that funding from two one-year grants which will not be available in the future. Funding also came from the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley COVID relief fund, the Town of Crested Butte, and the city of Gunnison. The ECC anticipates having enough funding to continue through the end of 2023.

A stipend program based on early childhood teacher credentials awarded 49 teachers in 2021 with stipends ranging from $100 up to $400 based on their credential levels, for a total cost of $13,100. From December 2022 through this past summer, an additional $29,000 was awarded to 58 teachers, ranging from $100 up to $800 apiece. The ECC estimates it needs at least $15,000 to run the program at the same capacity for the remainder of 2023, and plans to apply to community grant programs.

The Early Childhood Food Boxes for Teachers program, a partnership with Mountain Roots and the ECC, provided monthly food boxes to more than 80 teachers and home providers beginning in October of 2022. That has added up to almost 700 boxes of food and $36,000. The ECC no longer has funding to continue this program, however, and would cost $36,000 to run from October 2023 through June 2024. According to a memo from the ECC, “Annually we estimate that this program would cost around $60,000 to continue at the current level of operation.” 

Gunnison County commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels asked the ECC representatives during the August update how they felt the incentive programs were working overall. “These initiatives seem to have been designed to show appreciation and also to improve retention,” she commented. “Is it working?”

Athey answered it was—sort of.

“Until teacher salaries can be increased to the level they need to be to make it in the valley, I think it will be tough,” said Athey. 

Gunnison County health and human services director Joni Reynolds added that getting folks to the five-year mark of tenure is important, “then this [set of programs] can help with retention.”

County commissioner board chair Jonathan Houck noted the importance of good, reliable care for children in an area like Gunnison County where there is a tight workforce and relatively low unemployment rates. “It has a big impact on our local economy being able to function,” he said.