District 300 gets Preschool For All grant

Confirmation that Community Unit District 300 had received funding from the state for its Preschool For All program could not have arrived on a better day.

On Monday, the district learned it had received $1.3 million in funding from the Illinois State Board of Education for the state-funded program intended to provide students at high risk of academic failure with a solid foundation for their educational careers.

The grant allows the district to recall 4½ teaching positions for the program. Although the district never eliminated the program as a whole, board members in March took steps to save the district money until an agreement was reached with the teachers union or other revenue was found to pay for the program. A number of Preschool For All teachers and paraprofessional positions were eliminated.

“It is an ironic situation, because we have been working hard to keep the program,” Superintendent Michael Bregy said. “We were here to recommend the PFA program, and the ironic part is that today we received notice from the state board that we are recipients of a grant for the program.”

Teachers in the audience cheered after the announcement. Bregy admitted he screamed when he read it.

When the letter from the state board landed on Bregy’s desk around noon on Monday, the district leader had moments earlier completed a PowerPoint presentation recommending the school board recall some of the teachers it had pink slipped, even though the district did not have funding for the program.

The program benefits about 400 students in the district.

“Even if we went into a deficit, the recommendation would have been to bring it back,” Bregy said. “Research shows that it is an area that we need to target.”

While the district is grateful for receiving the grant this year, Bregy said a long-term plan for the program is needed.

The state has paid the district about 40 percent of the funding it was awarded for the program in the last school year.

“It is critically important for some students,” Bregy said. “But I am not sure we can continue the program if it is not 100 percent funded.”

School leaders have said the district paid about $1 million out of its pocket to cover the program.