Pre-K is a highly valued feature in Macon County Schools, but if the school system is going to make it available to everyone who wants it, they’re going to need more room.
Macon County Schools currently hosts five Pre-K classrooms. Two are at South Macon Elementary School, another two are at Iotla Valley Elementary School, and one is at Cartoogechaye Elementary School. Each class has 18 students for a total of 90 children. Factoring in the size of the county’s entire kindergarten enrollment, that leaves considerable room for expansion.
“We have 90 kids in Pre-K right now and we have over 300 kids in kindergarten,” Superintendent Chris Baldwin said. “We’re covering less than 30% of the students who actually could benefit from it.”
Brooke Keener, the Pre-K director and exceptional children director for Macon County Schools, believes that even though there are private options available for Pre-K in the area, Macon County Schools is “the best gig in town.” In addition to the high quality of education, they’re able to provide private pay class space for $450 per month, a significant discount compared to some other options. The school system’s Pre-K is funded by a combination of private pay tuition and state programs targeted at Pre-K support – it’s not an essential function of their normal funding.
“Pre-K programs are not funded like K-12,” Keener said. “This is not something that the LEA (Local Education Agency) has to do. This is something that our school system has decided is important.”
Expanding access to Pre-K would require more teachers and assistants, but the biggest obstacle is infrastructure. East Franklin Elementary School is the only elementary school in the system that doesn’t offer Pre-K because it’s the only one that doesn’t have enough space to host it. Keener said South Macon was “busting at the seams” before its addition was completed in 2019, adding both of its current Pre-K spaces. Highlands School is under similarly packed conditions.
To make matters more complicated, recent changes in state policy will require K-3 classes to shrink, meaning existing students will be spread out even further.
“The other thing to consider is the K-3 class size legislation,” Baldwin said. “Even without an increase in enrollment, that legislation may lead us to sacrificing some of those Pre-K classrooms for K-3 classrooms.”
Looming large over the situation is a crisis of staffing among childcare providers. The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in fears of infection, vaccine and masking mandates, changes in home situations, debates over fair compensation and many other hiring roadblocks that have impacted childcare facilities just like they have all other businesses. An October report from the North Carolina Child Care Resources and Referral Council states 80% of childcare providers are having more difficulty with hiring now than they did before the pandemic, and 32% have even had to close classrooms because of it.
“The temporary closures that many childcare providers across the state are imposing as a result of staffing shortages are disruptive to the development and education of North Carolina children, and to our state’s continued economic recovery,” said Sheila Hoyle, executive director of the Southwestern Child Development Commission.
Keener recognizes that issue at work in Macon County. Each Franklin area school’s Pre-K program has an extensive waiting list – it’s so extreme that some expecting parents are calling to sign up before their baby is born. In Highlands, where the school doesn’t have Pre-K, the demand is just as obvious.
“There are two daycares in Highlands and both of them have 50 children on their wait list,” said Hillary Wilkes, who represents Highlands on the Macon County Board of Education. “We need places for people to send their children while they’re working.”
The School Board spoke about Pre-K extensively during their November board meeting, but any final answers are still far off. The Advance Highlands Education Committee (AHEC) has been evaluating a construction plan that would create more space for Pre-K, STEM and CTE classes at Highlands School, but it’s just one of many construction proposals the board has to field right now, especially with Macon Middle School’s renovation in progress and a new Franklin High School on the horizon.
“We want a Pre-K program for all kids in Macon County,” board member Carol Arnold said. “But we’re going to need the support and we’re going to need the resources… it’s a very expensive thing to do.”
Keener hopes the school system won’t lose sight of the difference-making potential Pre-K offers. Children who get to spend a few extra years getting used to a formal education setting before kindergarten have a leg up in their academic careers. Especially for children with disabilities, access to Pre-K can shape their entire experience with school.
“I cannot overstate how important Pre-K is,” Keener said. “Where we move the needle is right here.”
The next meeting of the Macon County Board of Education will be held on Monday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. in the boardroom at the Macon County Schools Central Office.