Shut out of early learning
360 children turned away from city preschool program
Waukegan's public preschool program has turned away 360 children after losing $300,000 in state funding and closing its primary facility.
Last year, Early Childhood Partners in Collaboration had a $3.3 million budget, according to coordinator Donna Toops. But the state cut $300,000, giving EPIC a leaner budget to work with, and that affected EPIC's ability to rent classroom space.
(Thomas Delany Jr./News-Sun)
EPIC officials were shopping around for a site to replace Shiloh School, which occupied space rented from Shiloh Baptist Church, 800 S. Genesee St.
Shiloh, EPIC's largest preschool site, was initially authorized as a temporary site when Waukegan launched EPIC in 2004. The state had determined that Shiloh did not meet grant requirements due to issues with the basement and ground floor space, such as a lack of natural light and no outdoor play equipment.
A recent state audit said that the Shiloh site had to be discontinued.
"We had been considering other sites, but with decreases in funds, we were caught in between and did not find another site that fit with our budget," Kearby said.
State funding cannot be used to build a space, so EPIC classroom space is rented and borrowed, Toops said.
EPIC now serves about one-third fewer children than last year. Last year, there were 1,050 EPIC students and this year there are only 690, largely due to classroom space issues, Toops said.
Space issues caused the waiting list to grow, Toops said.
Tina Pickle of Waukegan is one of about 300 wait-listed parents waiting to send her 5-year-old to preschool.
"(My daughter) asks me every single day when she's going to school. I try to make up excuses for her ... that's not really good when parents have to give excuses to the child because she's not going to understand there's no room for her," Pickle said.
To help compensate, staff have been creating new classrooms in the district's facilities. Each new room accommodates 40 children -- 20 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon.
The school nurse's office at North Shore School, 326 Julian St., was converted into a classroom.
An office previously used for early childhood screening at Early Learning Center became another classroom, and two Alternative/Optional Education Center classrooms were converted for preschool-age children.
"All the adults are really pitching in to try to make additional classrooms. Everybody has pitched in like you wouldn't believe. The problem is bad, but the response is like you wouldn't believe," Toops said.
Children who do not get a preschool education are likely to create more expenses for the school district, according to Jeanne Kearby, Early Learning Center principal and Alternative/Optional Education Center site overseer.
"I am very concerned for children who don't get a preschool education. They will continue to be low achievers for the district, and the district will have to expend more financial resources and manhours to service those children," Kearby said.
