RWCSD Makes Cuts To Preschool Program

Due to bleak budget conditions, the recently trimmed its preschool program and eliminated two teaching positions, to go along with cutting operating hours and slashing services, said a district administrator.

A $435,000 shortfall coming this year from the state to the district brought on the cuts to the preschool program, said district Chief Business Official Raul Parungao.

On Wednesday, the district approved eliminating two full-time preschool teaching positions from the books for the upcoming school year.

The action came as a continuation of , when the district decided to slash the hours of operation for the preschool, resulting in job reductions and eliminations.

"We need to find a way to balance the budget," said Parungao. "As such, we had to reduce the number of classrooms that we are serving, including students and staff."

During the , district administration folded some full-day preschool classes into half-day classes, that resulted in the loss of 48 seats in full-day classrooms, but added 16 half-day seats.

Yet still, 32 preschool students will be left with no seat to sit in when the summer ends and its time for school to begin again in the fall.

The difficulty of making such tough decisions is not lost on Parungao, who acknowledged that some parents rely on the availability of full-time childcare in order to work while the students are in preschool classrooms.

"It becomes challenging for these parents," he said.

Additional relief for young students who are impacted by the preschool cuts may come as the district prepares to introduce a transitional kindergarten program, said Paraungao.

But transitional kindergarten is not a substitute for preschool, as only a portion of the preschool population is old enough to be eligible for the new state-mandated program.

And transitional kindergarten is not a full day of instruction, as it is more similar to a half-day preschool class in terms of time.

Despite all the gloomy circumstances, perhaps most unfortunate of all for the district is that there seems to be more bad news on the horizon.

According to Paraungao, the district is waiting to hear the severity of more funding cuts from the state due to line item vetoes made by Governor Jerry Brown during the process of balancing the state budget. 

So the district is forced to stay in a holding pattern until the cuts are announced, as administrators are attempting to prepare for the upcoming fall semester without full knowledge of how the budget will be affected.

"We still don't know what the impact will be," he said.