Expanded preschool program received 12,000 applications

BY ERICA BREUNLIN THE COLORADO SUN

Close to 12,000 applicants signed up for the state’s expanded preschool program Tuesday, the rst day parents could enroll their child ahead of the program’s start this fall.

e number of applications is a promising sign for the new program and is prompting state o cials to rethink the number of children who will enroll.

“We’re pleasantly surprised,” said Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. “It exceeded our expectations for the rst day. We think it’s an excellent indicator of family interest” in the state’s expanded preschool program, known as “universal preschool.” e department originally projected about 30,000 kids would opt into the state program during its rst year, about half the number of kids who will be eligible, Chalkbeat Colorado rst reported. State o cials largely based that estimate on enrollment numbers across the country and from the Denver preschool program, Roy said.

“Colorado is giving us an indicator that our initial projections are lower than what the uptake will be,” she said. “And that’s exciting. We have the funding. We need to make sure that … by the fall we have the seats available, and based on the provider uptake, we look like we’re in really great shape.” e rst round of applications for families closes Feb. 14, but the expanded preschool program is not rst come, rst served. Instead, the department will evaluate all families’ applications at the same time and use an analytics system that will consider a variety of factors when matching families to preschool settings — including home-based, center-based and school-based programs. ose factors include transportation, whether families want a full day of preschool and whether a

So far, 1,477 child care providers have submitted forms to o er services through the preschool program, with another nearly 1,000 forms that providers have started but not yet submitted, according to the department. Based on the number of providers who plan to participate in the program, 60,000 slots are available for kids, nearly double the department’s initial expectation, said Melissa Mares, director of early childhood initiatives for the Colorado Children’s Campaign.