Preschool conversion sparks bigger debate

Jan. 17—Mark Twain Elementary School opened its doors in 1954 at a time when parents didn't worry much about whether a child was ready for kindergarten.

Nearly 70 years later, early childhood education has emerged as a critical indicator of future success in school. For St. Joseph, kindergarten readiness leaves much to be desired.

"If you look at the numbers, 44% of our kids are ready to go to school," said Gabe Edgar, superintendent of the St. Joseph School District. "That's not acceptable."

One of the proposed solutions to this problem is to get more kids into preschool programs. The St. Joseph Board of Education's Facilities Committee met Tuesday afternoon to hear a proposal to convert Mark Twain into a preschool for the 2023-24 year. If approved, the school on 705 S. 31st St. would join Lake Contrary as a former elementary school repurposed for early childhood education.

The proposed Mark Twain conversion, if approved by the full St. Joseph Board of Education, would add another 170 preschool slots on top of around 450 at Lake Contrary.

"We would be meeting more needs," said Dlo DuVall, director of special programs for the school district.

Those at the meeting, including both school board and community members, made generally favorable remarks about expanded preschool options but directed pointed questions to administrators about where the current Twain students would go and whether surrounding schools could handle the influx.

Twain, a Title I school with a higher proportion of students in poverty, has an enrollment of 312. Its students would go to Skaith, Edison, Coleman, Parkway and Carden Park schools. Edison and Skaith would likely take the largest number, said Bethany Clark, director of elementary education.

This prompted some committee members to ask if the repurposing of Twain should be part of a larger and potentially trickier community discussion on revising boundaries and feeder school arrangements throughout the district.

"We can't kick the can another three months down the road," said Ken Reeder, a member of the board of education. "We need to rip the Band-Aid off."

Edgar said he agrees with that discussion — to a point.

"I think that needs to be addressed," he said. "The reason why I didn't tie it into the discussion in regard to the expansion of early learning is because I didn't want early learning to get lost. I think our most pressing need is to expand early learning."

The board of education is expected to discuss the Mark Twain conversion at its January meeting, with a vote possibly coming in February.

Greg Kozol can be reached at greg.kozol@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowKozol.