For Star subscribers: The program has had success, and challenges, during pandemic as it begins to wrap up its first year in implementation.
Nicole Ludden In a preschool classroom at Annie W. Kellond Elementary, a group of 4- and 5-year-olds sits on carpet squares and goes through the sounds of the alphabet.
“I'm an hourly employee, so it didn't make sense to pay for daycare, it made more sense for me to stay home. I would essentially only be working to pay for child care, and it just didn't make any sense,” Bohme said. “ did give me the opportunity to go back into the work force. I wouldn't have had that opportunity if David was here with me.”
Market rates for a full-day preschool tuition average between $7,920 and $9,240 a year in the region, according to the county. Although research shows attending preschool often results in long-term benefits for a child, the high cost can pose a significant barrier. The program served 685 children across the county as of its latest quarterly report analyzing results up to March 31. The county plans to reimburse about $6.2 million to childcare providers for the first year of operations.
PEEPS' first yearEarly childhood education advocates have long pushed for lowering barriers to preschool education in Pima County. “We are totally advocates for the program,” she said. “We are thrilled with the public schools having stepped up and lots of kids are attending.” “The low salary issue has been an issue for a long time prior to COVID. For decades this has been an underfunded industry,” said Nicole Fyffe, the assistant to the county administrator who has worked on the program since its inception. “But with COVID, it became even worse because teachers are being underpaid. Why on earth would they want to go into the classroom during that time?”
The county’s tackling the staffing issue by increasing reimbursement rates for districts' PEEPS classes and requiring them to put the extra funding into teacher compensation. Fyffe said the districts will come back with a report on how they plan to use the funds to increase staff recruitment and retention.
“We are seeing lots and lots of applications. However, believe it or not, a lot of those applications are families who don't qualify and want to pay tuition,” she said. The county anticipates spending $1.1 million on extending half-day Head Start classes to full-day programs as it wraps up its first year. According to Erin Lyons, the CEO of the organization that runs Head Start, Child-Parent Centers, 205 children across 11 classrooms have benefitted from the extended day classes in Pima County.
PEEPS also awarded 380 preschool scholarships at $7,300 each to different providers through First Things First, a statewide agency that provides childcare grants to low-income families. The program is funded through a tobacco tax and has a limited number of scholarships statewide, but the county has sponsored more to increase quality preschools in the region.
The program coaches providers to help increase their quality ratings. As of the last PEEPS report, the program cleared the list of preschools waiting to receive a rating and added 15 high-quality learning programs to the county.
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