AUSTIN, Texas — Federal funding is running out for a free Pre-K program in Del Valle ISD, leaving some parents scrambling to make a tough decision for their families.
In 2021, the district began offering free, full-day dual-language Pre-K for 4-year-olds using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act provided to the City of Austin and Travis County.
However, with the grant that supported the program expiring, the district will no longer offer tuition-free Pre-K to families, which blindsided parents in the district.
“We’re all shocked,” Melissa Liscano said. “We don’t know what we’re going to do. We are finding this out days before registration opens, and now we don’t know if our kids will attend the school we’ve been preparing for years.”
Liscano had been looking forward to sending her 4-year-old to Newton Collins Elementary School in the fall.
“My 4-year-old is going to be so disappointed if she’s not a Newton Collins Kangaroo in the fall, which we’ve talked about for the last couple of years,” Liscano said. “She talks about how she’s going to be a Kangaroo all the time, and she’s going to go to this big girl school.”
Alexia Lopez lives across the street from the school. Her son also looks forward to attending Newton Collins Elementary School in the fall.
“We’ve … spent all day overwhelmed, honestly, as parents in the community because it changes everything,” Lopez said.
The program was designed to benefit families that fall between qualifying for state-funded Ore-K based on socioeconomic levels and being able to afford the tuition-based Pre-K program.
The district will still offer free Pre-K to families that meet state qualifications for it, and those students will be guaranteed a spot. For everyone else, tuition will be $700 a month, and there are limited seats.
“We could make this work financially, but some families cannot,” Liscano said. “I’m still not guaranteed a spot, and because of that, there’s a very good chance that we’re not even going to apply for the school at this point.”
That price tag is out of reach for families like the Lopezes.
“We’re going to have to be patient because that’s all we can do,” Lopez said. “It looks like we’ll have to wait for kindergarten.”
Like many other families, they had been planning to participate in the free, no-cost Pre-K program, but now that it is ending, they are left scrambling.
“This is a genuine crisis for families. Many people were at a 10-level of stress this morning as we figured out what to do,” Liscano said. “Many families don’t know what we’re going to do.”
In an area already considered a childcare desert, it presents a new financial burden that some families say will change their quality of life.
Liscano said she has been so excited to send her kids to Newton Collins Elementary, be a part of the DVISD community and cheer on the district’s students and staff, which adds another level of devastation to the story.
“We’re disappointed because we care about this school and the school district. If I didn’t, I would probably brush it off and go to some other school, but this is where we want to be,” Liscano said. “This is where we’ve put a lot of energy, investing into our kids future at this school.”
Since moving to the Easton Park area three years ago, Liscano said she has built a community with other families with kids of similar ages, invested in the nearby elementary school, participated in fundraisers and attended their events.
“We’ve been so excited and looking forward to this, but now we don’t know if we’re going to be there,” she said.
Parents are in shock because they’re finding out just days before registration and a planned open house next week, giving them little time to figure out what to do for the next school year.
There is also plenty of frustration with the district for not sharing the news sooner and leaving families in this situation.
Word of the change started to spread among parents on Friday morning, though the district did not officially inform families until 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
“We love this community. We love Del Valle ISD,” Lopez said. “We just wish there had been better communication and more advanced notice so that we [could] plan accordingly.”
With the future spun into uncertainty, Liscano’s dream of walking her kids to school here is up in the air. Parents hope to get more answers and clarification at the open house on Monday.