Heralding the roll out of a long-sought policy priority, Gov. Jared Polis visited Lake Dillon Preschool on Thursday, Aug. 10, to hear how the school is utilizing the state’s new universal preschool program. 

A marquee effort for Polis, who had pledged to implement universal preschool during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, the program will provide up to 15 hours of free tuition per week for all Colorado 4-year-olds and up to 10 hours for qualifying 3-year-olds with disabilities or certain risk factors.

“This saves families $6,000 a year for 4-year-olds. And so that’s a big deal for families who are trying to balance their checkbooks with all the costs and challenges they face,” Polis said.

For this coming school year, Polis said the program has helped nearly double the number of enrolled preschoolers, rising to more than 39,000 statewide. 

“A lot of that is because many of the preschoolers, their parents simply couldn’t afford preschool,” Polis said. “So it’s just really exciting to see how it benefits parents and families.” 

Summit County this year also launched its own version of preschool tuition assistance known as Summit PreK, which provides subsidies to middle- and lower-income families of children ages 3-4 (children who turn 5 during the school year are also eligible, so long as they begin preschool at age 4). 

At Lake Dillon, staff said the benefits of both programs are already being felt among families. 

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At least two of the 14 families who’ve signed up for the state’s universal preschool at Lake Dillon said they plan to use the subsidies from both programs to extend their children’s school time. Former executive director JoAnne McClung gave the example of one family who wasn’t able to afford the cost for a full week of preschool but now can. 

“(The parent) has two children, and she’s only had them in three days per week for both of them because she just simply couldn’t afford for two kids to be in five days,” said McClung, who stepped down as director earlier this month and now serves in a finance role with the preschool. 

A five-day-per-week monthly rate at Lake Dillon ranges from $1,522 to $1,701, depending on a child’s age. With both the county and state funds, McClung said that same parent is now paying “next to nothing to go five days.”

McClung is part of a wave of recent retirements in early childhood education leadership in the county. As new directors take on existing challenges, which includes a 600-child waitlist and need for sustainable staffing, many are looking to the subsidies as a way to support not only families but themselves as well. 

Staff said they rely on tuition to sustain their profession, an issue that is especially acute in Summit County, where home prices that stretch into the millions have made it difficult to hire and retain early childhood education providers. 

“We are in a place where we need to raise our rates, and we want to avoid putting the burden on families,” said Executive Director Katie Bunnelle. “We also need to ensure that we’re providing a livable wage for our staff.” 

But as she looks to efforts at the county and state level, Bunnelle said, “It feels amazing to be in this field at this time.” 

Beyond being an economic issue, early childhood education is a crucial investment in the long-term success of a community, Bunelle said. 

“I have three children of my own, and we need to do the best we can to prepare them for the world and unexpected circumstances,” she said. “Knowing the challenges our children are facing, we more than ever recognize how important these first few years are.”

The state program may not reach as many children as it initially hoped to, however, since a surge in demand has already stressed funding.

The program had originally called for 4-year-olds from low-income families who also have risk factors, such as language barriers, to be eligible for up to 30 hours of preschool each week at no cost. But higher-than-anticipated enrollment has stretched state dollars, and the program will offer just 15 hours instead of 30 this year, according to reporting by Chalkbeat. 

Still, Polis said the program maintains a “dedicated funding source,” referring to a nicotine tax approved by Colorado voters in 2020. 

“Certainly for now, and for the next few years, we have a very strong, robust, steady funding source,” he said. 

He said there will be a ballot initiative slated for this November, Proposition II, that would allow the state to keep nicotine tax revenue that exceeds projections and mandate it be used on universal preschool.

Ultimately, Polis hopes state voters will continue to support early childhood education efforts that he said have “long-term academic benefits for the children” whilst saving families money. 

“It’s about helping make sure every child is prepared to succeed in life,” Polis said.