Sacramento schools have low transitional kindergarten enrollment, data shows. Why?

Transitional kindergarten expansion has added thousands of students in Sacramento County but enrollment still lags behind other urban areas, new state data show. Local educators say that the numbers may not be telling the whole story.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in 2021 setting aside about $2.7 billion to eventually make transitional kindergarten available to all 4-year-olds. The expansion started in earnest last school year, as 4-year-olds who turned 5 between September and April became eligible.

Transitional kindergarten is optional — and some districts are seeing many more students enroll than others.

In Sacramento County, TK students accounted for about 20 of every 1,000 public school students in 2023-24, according to state data released in May. By comparison, TK students accounted for about 26 of every 1,000 public school students statewide.

TK enrollment in Sacramento County grew from about 2,000 students in 2021-22 to about 5,000 students in 2023-24, faster than the state’s rate of growth. But Sacramento County’s TK enrollment lagged so far behind the rest of the state that the increase could not close the gap.

Among the 20 California counties with the most public school students, Sacramento County had the lowest proportion of students enrolled in transitional kindergarten.

TK students accounted for just 16 of every 1,000 students in Twin Rivers Unified last school year. In Sacramento City Unified and San Juan Unified, the rate was 18 of every 1,000 students. In Elk Grove Unified, the rate was 21 of every 1,000 students.

Among large unified school districts, only Natomas Unified beat the statewide average, with 27 of every 1,000 students enrolled in TK.

Another way of looking at the numbers is to compare TK enrollment with kindergarten enrollment. By that measure, Sacramento also lags. It enrolled 3.2 TK students for every 10 kindergarten students, compared to a statewide rate of 4.1 TK students for every 10 kindergarten students. Sacramento’s rate of TK-to-kindergarten students was the lowest among the 20 California counties with the most public school students.

The numbers likely cannot be explained by a lack of 4-year-olds. The birth rate in Sacramento County in 2019 was higher than the statewide rate. Many children born in 2019 would have been eligible for transitional kindergarten last year.

Other local counties seemed to have managed to enroll more students in transitional kindergarten. TK students accounted for 28 of every 1,000 students in El Dorado County last school year. In Placer County, the rate was 27 of every 1,000 students. In Yolo County, the rate was 22 of every 1,000 students.

So what’s going on in Sacramento?

Why the numbers may be low

Local education experts say that this data is not necessarily representative of the success of TK in the county. There are myriad factors that contribute to a lower rate of TK students enrolling in a given area.

Laura Hill, policy director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, pointed out that the greater the enrollment decline in a given district, the more TK rates would suffer. She also said that the nature of the local child care market in a given region could have a large impact on TK enrollment.

TK is also not the only form of preschool available. There are myriad federal-, state- and privately-run programs that offer different hours, teaching styles and levels of accessibility. Sacramento County Office of Education pursues a mixed delivery system for early education, supporting a variety of programs that can meet the diverse needs of families across the county. Julie Montali, executive director for Early Learning at the Sacramento County Office of Education, said that the lower TK rates likely do not indicate lower than average participation in preschool in the region overall. Part of the department’s work is providing resources and professional development for a variety of local programs and their staff.

“Sacramento is a big proponent of the universal pre-K mixed delivery system which really is this umbrella of different options for families,” Montali said. “TK is an important piece of the puzzle, but there are other pieces as well.”

Other preschool programs, which range from the federally-operated Head Start program for low-income families to informal programs provided by family, friend and neighbor caregivers, may offer specialized services that are more attractive or accessible for certain parents.

How Sacramento educators closing the TK gap

From local school districts leaders’ perspectives, TK enrollment is going just fine. Sources say that they are largely meeting their own metrics of success — filling and staffing TK classrooms and expanding offerings to more school sites each year.

Sacramento City Unified spokesperson Al Goldberg reported that the district expanded its TK offerings to 33 of its school sites in the 2023-24 school year and that capacity was reached at all but one site. The district began reaching out to Spanish speaking families early in the year to ensure awareness of the program.

At a time when enrollment is declining statewide, marketing is a key component of reaching families, especially those with kids under 6, who are not yet required to attend school. Twin Rivers Unified holds several Kindergarten Roundup events in winter of each year in an effort to help local students get a successful start to their school careers. But the resources offered at the fair are not limited to their own TK program; district director of Early Childhood Education Corrie Buckmaster said that the roundup is tailored to multiple prekindergarten options, including local preschools and the state-run Head Start program.

“The whole goal of the push for universal pre-K was to have flexibility to be able to meet individual and family needs,” Buckmaster said.

Still, the TK program at Twin Rivers is growing each year, and much of that growth happens during the school year. In the 2023-24 school year, Twin Rivers Unified started with 465 kids enrolled in TK and ended with 599. Around 700 students have signed up for TK this fall, Buckmaster said.

Other districts say they are on track with their own expectations.

Elk Grove will offer at least one TK class at each of its elementary school sites by this fall, one year ahead of the state recommendation to do so. Elizabeth Rueda, director of pre-K-6 Education at the district, said that 48 of the 62 classes scheduled for this fall are at capacity.

“We’re definitely considering it a success,” she said.

Hurdles to TK enrollment and accessibility

As TK expands to more schools in California, there are still a number of factors that could prevent parents from enrolling in their local school district.

“TK is a great option for many people, but it is only one of a variety of options for families,” Montali said. “Many people may be looking for things that make TK not their best option.”

If a family’s neighborhood school does not offer a program it may discourage them from choosing TK at another school within the district. In Sacramento City Unified, just 33 of 54 elementary school sites will offer a TK class next year. Getting TK to all or most sites in a district may be key to capturing higher enrollment.

Similarly, families may be seeking full day programs, which many school sites may not be offering yet. School districts are largely still figuring out how to offer a full day of care. This may be achieved through “blending and braiding programs,” or layering morning, afternoon and after school extended learning programs to ensure a child can stay for a full nine hours of care.

“Districts are meant to be offering more hours of aftercare, but I think that’s rolling out a bit slower,” Hall said. “Districts that are successfully able to offer full day TK and make it possible for families to have their children stay for longer days, may be popular for families that need that care.”

Implementation challenges

Despite touting successful TK expansion, many districts have reported similar challenges they have faced when rolling out these programs. Housing TK classes in appropriate facilities is a common problem for local districts.

“When our schools were built they were not designed as TK-6 campuses,” Rueda said about Elk Grove.

Few classrooms were built with small bodies in mind. Windows, whiteboards, sinks, drinking fountains and furniture must be appropriate heights for these students. Restrooms should be contained within a classroom, so that a teacher or paraeducator does not have to chaperone a student during class time.

In Twin Rivers, building and modernizing classrooms to accommodate the expanding TK classrooms has become a key initiative. The district recently built new classrooms at two elementary schools, with one more currently in construction. The new facilities include appropriately sized infrastructure, dedicated open play areas and age-appropriate outdoor play structures.

Another challenge for districts has been staffing classrooms with qualified educators, but efforts made on a district-, county- and state-level are actively combating this. Elk Grove works with the Sacramento County Office of Education to support working TK classroom staffers to earn their multi-subject teaching credential while they work as paraeducators supporting teachers.

Montali is feeling positive about the state of preschool in the Sacramento region and across the state given recent efforts to expand access to early childhood education.

“I think people should feel really optimistic about our preschool options, whether it’s private, public or through a local educational agency,” Montali said.