The Next Steps preschool program at Clemens Primary School faces an uncertain future as funding challenges force difficult decisions about the district’s financial priorities.
Strengthening Rural Families, which has operated the preschool in Philomath since 2016-17, is not offering winter programming this year and remains unsure about spring sessions, Superintendent Susan Halliday told the Philomath School Board on Thursday.
“They started the year with 34 students in the fall,” Halliday said. “There’s no winter programming and they’re not sure about the spring.”
The program serves children who will attend kindergarten in the Philomath School District the following academic year and is provided free to families living in the district.
The school district’s financial support for the program has fluctuated significantly in recent years. In 2022-23, the program received just under $17,000 from the district. That amount dropped to $10,000 in each of the past two academic years, with no district funding in 2023-24.
“In past years, the school district has really afforded a fair amount of money to the preschool program and we’re just not in that kind of place anymore,” Halliday said.
The program also receives support through Oregon’s Kindergarten Partnership and Innovation (KPI) Fund, administered through the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Early Learning Hub. Philomath received KPI grants of $15,760 in 2022-23, $15,750 in 2023-24 and 2024-25, and $17,788 for the current academic year. Those funds go directly to Strengthening Rural Families.
Districts can also apply for leftover KPI funds from other districts in the hub. In 2022-23, SRF received an additional $33,730 through that source. In 2024-25, another $7,145 originated from unspent KPI funds.
“If they would not have received that $33,730 of extra KPI money, the expectation was the district would support this because they had no other funds from Strengthening Rural Families to do it,” Halliday said. “So that’s when we said that we’ve really got to drop back to what we believe we can afford — to be a team player and to be supportive.”
Halliday said the district has made clear to SRF that it will not cover preschool expenses if the organization’s funding sources dry up. Meanwhile, grants that SRF has obtained in the past have become much more competitive, making them harder to secure.
“They’re less likely to get them and so they’re struggling to be able to do their fundraising as well and then those early learning funds are getting cut left and right,” Halliday said.
Strengthening Rural Families sent out a campaign fundraising letter in December, with Clemens Primary Principal Abby Couture crafting a letter of endorsement for the organization’s work.
School Board members and district staff expressed strong support for early childhood education, even as they acknowledged financial limitations.
“If you’ve ever been in a kindergarten classroom, you know what an intense environment it can be and I’ll tell you in the first week of school, you can tell which students have had access to preschool and which students have not,” said Mallory Crane, who works in the counseling department at Clemens Primary. “It’s really, really hard and preschool is very important.”
Board member Erin McMullen called it “a travesty that our education system doesn’t start at a much younger age and is funded appropriately.”
“I feel really strongly that anything we can do to support this preschool program, or any preschool program within our school district, will pay dividends,” McMullen said. “I would love to be able to find that wiggle room in the budget, I’m just having a hard time seeing the reality of that, unfortunately.”
Board Chair Tom Klipfel said that based on research showing early childhood development’s role in future success, he “would fully fund the preschool program for every kid who’s coming into the district” if possible.
However, Klipfel noted that if the district faces critical budget decisions, “if we get into budgeting and that $10,000 is a make-or-break for some other critical program that’s K-12, then we would have to look at just dropping the $10K even.”
The fundamental challenge lies in the district’s funding structure. School districts in Oregon do not receive state school fund money for preschoolers.
“So, if we put more money to the preschool and end up needing to cut one of our K-12 staff members, it’s going to be an uproar potentially,” Halliday said, “because we’re supporting a program for students that we don’t receive money for at the expense of something for students that we do receive money for.”
Halliday acknowledged that some superintendents believe districts should take that risk because of the positive long-term impacts.
“I believe in preschool very strongly and I hate to not have it but I also feel strongly that we can’t do it on the backs of the district to be able to support the whole,” she said.
Both McMullen and Klipfel agreed the district should continue providing baseline support of $10,000.
“The $10,000 felt like a level of support to be able to say ‘we’re in it with you’ that seems to be reasonable,” Halliday said.
Last year, 35 students went through a full year of Next Steps preschool. In 2023-24, 23 students participated in a partial year of programming.
The program operates with morning and afternoon sessions every other day, taught by Laura Schell and Sarah Nelson. The school district charges SRF $250 per month for use of the facility.
“Over the past eight years, I would say, it’s really become connected at Clemens Primary School,” Halliday said. “There’s a lot of joining of forces in terms of instructional materials and avenues where students get to know the school — all those other kinds of things, which is a real benefit for us.”
Halliday also noted that the program is operated free to all participants and that conversations have occurred about implementing a fee for service, though that’s not the choice Strengthening Rural Families wants to make.
“It’s Strengthening Rural Families’ program, so the money needs to go to them but it’s really about how can we help them without feeling like we’ve got to pick up more and more when things could get tighter and tighter,” Halliday said.
Strengthening Rural Families’ other programs at Clemens Primary, including “Three-Ri-Fic” classes and parent education programs, have different funding streams and will continue, Halliday noted.
Other local preschool options include Roots Christian School and Philomath Montessori.
Kidco Head Start is another option!