Pre-kindergarten classes will soon be a reality in the county school system. After months of discussion and research, the Lowndes County School District’s board of trustees Friday passed a motion 3-1 approving a limited pre-K program.
One pre-kindergarten class will be offered at each of the district’s three elementary schools. Because the classes will be federally-funded through Title 1, specific parameters must be met. In order to be eligible to attend the free class, children must live in a single-parent household, have a low socioeconomic status or have a low score on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), which measures vocabulary and verbal ability.
The district will take $50,000 in Title 1 funds from each school to fund the program, which is expected to cost $45,574.80 per school. The money will be used to pay a teacher, administer the PPVT test and pay for four aids to ride buses with students.
But that will mean $50,000 less for programs — and teachers — at the county’s three elementary schools.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Peggy Rogers said four to five teachers will not be rehired in their current roles but may be transferred to the pre-K program.
Other requirements for the district include spending an additional $30,070.45 to install a fence at New Hope Elementary School, setting up play centers and furniture for five rooms, providing bus restraints for 33 students and purchasing a preschool curriculum series.
Board President Jane Kilgore, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said she was in favor of a pre-kindergarten program, but she wanted it to be offered to all children. Initial proposals had included tuition-based classes for students not eligible for the free classes.
Now that the program has been approved, the board will have to do a number of things, including designate an early childhood coordinator, hire teachers, purchase the curriculum and develop a parent handbook.
In other news, the board unanimously approved the abstinence-plus curriculum, which promotes abstinence until marriage but also provides information about contraceptives and sexually-transmitted diseases. The state requires each school district adopt abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education curriculums.
Though the district has been considering a change to require school uniforms, the issue was not addressed at Friday’s meeting.
The board also unanimously approved a 10-point grading scale, which they believe will help county students compete better for scholarships and college admissions.
The grading scale will only change for middle school and high school. Under the current system, students must score 94 percent to 100 percent in order to make an A, but under the new system, 90 percent to 100 percent will earn an A. B’s will range from 80 to 89, C’s from 70 to 79, D’s from 60 to 69 and F’s for scores 59 or below.
Assistant Superintendent Edna McGill said the general consensus shows more benefits than detriments to using the 10-point scale. Though some may worry the scale will cause students not to work as hard, McGill said she doesn’t believe that will be an issue.
“The teacher sets the rigor of the classroom, not the grading scale,” McGill said.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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