Southern Boone pre-kindergarten students learned many things this past school year – such as learning to count to 100.
However, due to a lack of state funding, the school district cannot afford to teach that many students.
However, a report that says a 2014 law says that when the Missouri Legislature fully funds schools, money becomes available the next year to help districts fun pre-kindergarten programs.
For SoBoCo Superintendent Chris Felmlee, who had as nearly as many pre-kindergarten kids on a waiting list as he had in the classroom, the funding could be a longterm solution to preparing more students for kindergarten.
“We would be able to pick up additional students at about four percent,” Felmlee said, “based on our free and reduced school lunch count.”
The funding mechanism would all districts to start counting students in the formula for the 2018-19 school year, with an estimated cost of $68 million if all districts in Missouri participate.
It might be good news for early childhood education, however, Felmlee has also noted in the past that when the the state legislature adds funding in one area of education, they can take from another – such as the cuts in school transportation this past year.
Missouri ranked 33rd nationally in pre-K spending in 2015, according to the National Institute of Early Childhood Education.
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