It was standing room only at the Callaway Board of Education’s Feb. 9 meeting, as more than 30 people crowded into the school library. One particular agenda item was at the forefront of the discussion - the expansion of the district’s preschool program.

Though the room was full of inquisitive parents and community members, only one patron shared when given the opportunity during the public comments portion of the meeting. He presented a typewritten list of questions he and several other community members have about the proposed expansion, and presented that list to the board members.

While the board is legally restricted from being allowed to engage in dialogue with the public during a regular meeting, Superintendent Bryon Hanson was able to address the list of questions - and he did just that. Hanson had prepared a presentation for both the board and the public in anticipation of a curious crowd, and he made sure that each of the questions presented by the patron was addressed.

“I think there is a misconception out there, and the term ‘free daycare’ has been thrown around quite a bit. That is not the case. This is an expansion of the current preschool program. This is not something that has just jumped up,” explained Hanson as he began his presentation. “When you look at the academic research and the investment you make in early childhood education, the earlier you invest educational dollars in children the less likely you are to see academic inefficiencies as they move through school.”

Hanson said when looking at possibly expanding the preschool, the first thing they looked at was the academic benefits. “Will this put our kids on more solid footing as they move into kindergarten and through elementary school?”

There has been a push at national, state and local levels to increase funding and increase opportunities for students in early childhood education, Hanson shared.

“I think it is safe to say in terms of places for your kids to go in Callaway, we are at a crisis,” Hanson said. “So as an educational facility we feel like the best things for our kids in being academically prepared is to have this option for our parents and for our kids. We do not have enough options for places for kids to go so their parents can work.

“We are not doing this to try to solve childcare issues in Callaway. We see the academic benefit, but we also feel like we are all members of this community and if there is something we can step up and do that is going to educationally benefit our kids, while also being a positive thing, we should step up and be a part of that solution.”

When looking at an issue like early childhood education in any community, especially one the size of Callaway, one has to take into consideration the economic impact of the community as a whole. Hanson shared a story about a very good candidate that had been offered a position in the school system a couple of years ago, and initially they had accepted the job, but could not find daycare for her three children and had to turn the job down. Losing prospective, good employees hurts the entire community.

Hanson addressed the “daycare” questions that many members of the public had been asking. “We will not be going through the licensing process that you have to go through to become an operating daycare, we are operating as a pre-K through 12 educational facility and are following all of the guidelines spelled out in Rule 52 and Rule 10 per the NDE that line up with the requirement for ages 3 and 4 in preschool all the way through graduation.”

He also reminded the public that the school does already have an operating preschool in the building. There will obviously be some similarities in what the day looks like between a daycare and preschool when dealing with children this age; however, academics and developing social skills is the primary objective of the preschool program.

The expansion would require minor modifications to the existing space at the school, but Hanson said there is no plan for any type of addition to accommodate the growth. He has had a contractor look at the space, and Hanson is very confident that the expansion can be done within the current building footprint.

The district currently operates a half-day preschool program, so the academic programming is already in place. The preschool is operated on a play-based program, with kiddos learning through activity, play and movement. Hanson said while there are times that the children are sitting down working on skills, that is not the bulk of their day. Some things such as nap time will also be built in to an all-day program.

“I don’t want people to think this is kids in desks like you would expect to see more in a high school classroom,” Hanson said.

The district works closely with ESU10 and Hanson said they have already been in contact with them about any additional training that may be needed. He also pointed out that the district currently has an administrator with an advanced degree in early childhood education and an outstanding preschool teacher with a degree in early childhood education.

While the proposal is to expand the preschool to a full-day program, parents will still be given the option to send their children for only a half-day if they so choose. “We will have some structure to our day so we can tell parents when their child would receive the most academic benefit by being here, but that is an option that is available. It is not going to be an all or nothing situation.”

Another concern raised by the public was whether expanding the preschool might be detrimental to the existing or any future daycares in the community. Hanson said after speaking with the only daycare operator currently in town, that will not be an issue. “Even with us expanding, there are still going to be kids that don’t have a place to go,” he said.

The preschool expansion discussion occupied nearly 90 minutes of the two hour meeting. When it came time to vote on approval of adding a preschool position to accommodate the expanded program, board member TR Anderson shared that he did not feel comfortable voting on the item at this point when there are still so many questions from the public. The rest of the board agreed, and the vote was tabled until next month’s meeting.

A public information meeting will be held to further discuss the proposed expansion with an ad-hoc committee of the board, and open dialogue can take place.

Callaway Superintendent Bryon Hanson, right, explained the district plan for expanding the existing preschool program from a half-day to full-day option to a room full of community members at the Feb. 9 school board meeting. Seated to Hanson’s right is Board of Education President Mike Reiff. (Courier photo by Ellen Mortensen)