The school district administration building, at the corner of Broad Street and Belleville Avenue, was the high school at one time.
The Bloomfield School District is about to embark on universal preschooling for township children.
Revised application requirements for a state grant was the motivating factor behind the decisive April 8 vote by the board of education giving Bloomfield Schools Superintendent Sal Goncalves the green light to apply for a grant.
“The governor’s mandate has changed,” Goncalves said. “The previous mandate was 950 square feet for a classroom. We didn’t have that. But now that has changed to 450 square feet. Now we can go to private preschool providers in the community. The state wants more private vendors in play.”
Goncalves spoke in his office last week, along with Kasey Dudley, the board president. Preschool classrooms, he said, will have a capacity of 15 children.
“In the past, our concerns have been sustainability,” he continued. “Would the government provide an annual grant? What about the quality of education? The board understands there is a sacrifice for families to pay out-of-pocket expenses, but the grant will pay for everything.”
Dudley said it was a step in the right direction for young learners noting that the district has had preschool, for 12 years, at the Early Childhood Center, aka Forest Glen. About 180 children, drawn by lottery, are in the program, she said, and will be unaffected by the addition of outside vendors. ECC preschool is funded by the district and costs about $18,000 per student. The state grant is $15,000 per student and the vendor will accept this as a total payment. Preschool is not mandated, but Dudley noted that it gives children an educational advancement opportunity.
In the United States, preschool education varies considerably. According to the National Education Association, 70 percent of preschool children, in state-funded programs, are taught in a school setting; Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma are the only states providing preschool for all four-year-olds; South Carolina spends the least on preschool programs: $1,600 per child; New Jersey spends the most: $10,000.
Goncalves anticipates the grant application will come out early summer.
“Currently there are 26 Bloomfield vendors, but I can’t speak to specifics,” he said. “But not all 26 may apply to be in the pool of vendors.”
Transportation to preschool facilities is the parents responsibility.
“There’s definitely an industry out there for preschool (vendors),” he said. “Gone are the days when a parent could stay home.”
In a separate interview, Ben Morse, the board vice-president, said it was going to be a challenge to guarantee quality with outside vendors providing preschooling.
“I don’t know how much we’ll be involved with that, but the money is there so we should go for it,” he said. “But we want to go slow because the state isn’t providing money for special education children. That’s a concern.”
But responding to a query from this newspaper about Morse’s special education concerns, Joseph Fleres, the assistant superintendent of schools, said the NJ Department of Education recommends two or three special education students for each general education class.
“We have a scheduled meeting with an early childhood state official this Thursday,” he said, “and will be seeking definitive clarification regarding funding for special education students, especially as the grant guidelines will shift in light of the governor’s recent relaxation of certain mandates.”
Morse also wondered what were the expenses which the district did not know.
“The state is providing for preschool, but cutting back on our state aid,” he said. “This year we were cut $1.5 million.”
He cautioned that the West Orange School District “went all out” for preschool when they heard about the grant. But then cuts to the district’s state aid required them to lay off teachers. For Morse, the current situation is a tradeoff: preschooling for cuts to K-12 students. The board decided not to ask for a tax raise this year.
He also wondered why the state just did not give preschool funding to parents and leave school districts out of the equation altogether.
“We’re just doing the paperwork,” he said. “Is this a precursor to school vouchers? It seems like a slippery slope. Would it be easier for the parents to apply to the state? It’s not like we’re getting any money for this transaction. I haven’t heard we’re getting any reimbursement. It’s work to make sure the rules are followed.”
He said the preschool grant will not be based on the income of the parents — everyone goes into the same pool and a lottery.
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