10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
Preschool: Parents focus more on price, location
Continued from Page 1A
dividends yet. The program,
created by Western Ore-
gon University’s Teaching
Research Institute, is in its sec-
ond year. Not many parents
understand what it means yet,
Bisping said, and more are
focused on price and location.
Mestrich said her ofice is
now concentrating on expand-
ing such professional develop-
ment among preschools and
daycares, and the understand-
ing among parents about qual-
ity rating. More than half of
the county’s licensed provid-
ers are now following in Bisp-
ing’s footsteps to become qual-
ity-rated programs.
“The professional develop-
ment aspect is what holds most
people back,” Mestrich said,
adding the county lacks high-
er-level courses in early child-
hood education.
Clatsop Community Col-
lege recently dropped its early
childhood education program
because of lagging enrollment.
Mestrich said her ofice con-
vinced the college to bring back
an early childhood education
class, refers people to online
options and provides profes-
sional development classes for
local providers. They are also
planning classes taught to pre-
school providers by kindergar-
ten teachers in math, literacy
and social development.
“They’re more excited
about being high-quality, of
course, because Oregon’s get-
ting more money for child
care,” Mestrich said. “It’s really
kind of changed the look of
child care.”
Preschool Promise
Last year, the state Legis-
lature allocated $16 million
toward Preschool Promise, an
effort to support quality pre-
school options through partner-
ships with different providers.
The effort has led to an addi-
tional 1,300 subsidized pre-
school slots statewide for kids
from families within 200 per-
cent of the federal poverty level.
Fifteen of those subsidized
slots are on the bottom loor
of Capt. Robert Gray School,
where the Astoria School Dis-
trict launched a preschool this
fall. Michelle Gardner, head
teacher at the preschool, said
most of her students are within
100 to 200 percent of the fed-
eral poverty level, the next tier
of low-income preschoolers
who don’t make it into Head
Start. The district provides
transportation for the Head
Start students, and Head Start
enrolls students in the district’s
preschool.
The district, in partnership
with the Cannon Beach Pre-
school, applied for the Pre-
school Promise funding through
the states Early Learning Coun-
cil. Astoria received funding in
part because the state Depart-
ment of Human Services iden-
tiied large swaths east of the
Homes: ‘We need
to ind a way for
people who work
here to also live here’
Continued from Page 1A
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Head teacher Michelle Gardner leads students through a lesson about colors and nouns
in the bottom floor of Capt. Robert Gray School Monday. Astoria School District’s new
preschool was funded by Preschool Promise, a state effort to expand preschool options
for families within 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
Seaside receives preschool
startup grant from the state
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For EO Media Group
SEASIDE — Seaside School District
Superintendent Sheila Roley reported the dis-
trict received a $60,000 one-year preschool
startup grant from the Oregon Department of
Education for the 2016-17 school year.
“There is indisputable evidence that chil-
dren who have preschool experiences … will
thrive in school at a higher level than if they
didn’t have those experiences,” Roley said at
last week’s district board meeting. “A lot of
our students don’t have those naturally pro-
vided for them.”
In applying for the grant, the school dis-
trict did not intend to compete with other pro-
viders in the area, but to augment the services
so there would be enough spots for all pre-
schoolers, she said.
The district is partnering with the Sun-
set Empire Park and Recreation District,
which previously offered a limited preschool
option.
Astoria Bridge as the county’s
only “hot spot,” based on high
rates of poverty, public assis-
tance and mobility of families
with school-age children. Gard-
ner said there are already four
kids on the preschool’s wait list,
some of whom Astoria is refer-
ring to Head Start, which is still
trying to ind enough students
for a third preschool classroom
in Seaside.
“We’re trying to partner
with home preschoolers, just
opening up more places,” Gard-
ner said. “We’re trying to work
with all providers to make sure
every child does preschool.”
Pay for success
More than 2 1/2 years ago,
Clatsop Kinder Ready was
funded by the Oregon Commu-
nity Foundation.
“We’ve brought about a
great deal of awareness about
the ages 0 to 5, and what goes in
to helping a child develop, and
how critical that is to the rest of
their life,” said Dan Gaffney, a
former principal in Seaside and
head of Clatsop Kinder Ready.
In a partnership with Way to
The district is taking their partial, three-
day-per-week Learning Ladder Preschool
program and helping them grow it into a ive-
day-per-week, full-day preschool, which is a
requirement of the grant, Roley said. The stu-
dents must have access to at least 900 hours of
instructional time, similar to what a primary
student would receive.
“It’s really exciting that we’re getting this
off the ground,” she said, adding if the pro-
gram is successful, the district can reapply for
sustaining grants.
Part of this initiative will entail monthly
professional meetings involving the preschool
and kindergarten teachers so they can collab-
orate and “try to build a very smooth transi-
tion from preschool into kindergarten, so the
preschools are aligned with what kindergarten
readiness requires,” Roley said.
The board unanimously approved a mem-
orandum of understanding to work with the
recreation district on this program.
“The funds are channeled through us;
they’re doing most of the labor,” Roley said.
Wellville community wellness
program, Gaffney is now work-
ing on a grant application that
would study the feasibility of
privately funded, universal pre-
school for kids in Clatsop, Til-
lamook and possibly Colum-
bia counties through the U.S.
Department of Education’s Pre-
school Pay for Success grants.
The model attracts private
investors to pay for high-qual-
ity preschool programs in a
given area, with the under-
standing it can help avoid soci-
etal costs in the future. Gaff-
ney said Clatsop Kinder Ready
would be working with exist-
ing preschool programs. If a
local area meets certain goals,
such as reducing special educa-
tion usage, it pays the investors
back. Goldman Sachs invested
in such a program in Salt Lake
City’s Granite School Dis-
trict, dramatically lowering the
number of children kindergar-
ten through ifth grade needing
special education services.
“They see this as a way of
improving society,” Gaffney
said of Pay for Success inves-
tors. “They’re taking the risk
… that they may not make back
their money. They understand
that if we don’t provide a qual-
ity preschool experience, that
has a lasting effect on society.”
The U.S. Department of
Education has made available
$2.8 million for the feasibility
studies. Gaffney said there will
be seven to 14 awards worth
$200,000 to $400,000 each,
with the announcement of win-
ners in December.
Dave Pollard and his
wife, who regularly travel
to historic districts, said that
introducing miniature dwell-
ings does not improve such
areas.
“We have never seen an
area that was successful and
presented itself well that had
these things like tiny houses,
trailers and so forth,” he said.
Commission President
Dave Pearson later argued
that, in his view, historic
preservation is “never sup-
posed to be a moment frozen
in time.”
“Astoria’s about so much
more than that. We’ve always
deied the odds because
we’ve never allowed that to
deine us,” he said.
Cronin clariied that
the proposed code changes
would not pre-empt the city’s
Design Review Commit-
tee and Historic Landmarks
Commission processes.
Several speakers expressed
concern that many ADUs
would not add permanent
housing to Astoria but would
be used as vacation rentals.
However, Commissioner
Daryl Moore pointed out that
vacation rentals are not per-
mitted in residential zones,
though he acknowledged that
enforcement is lacking.
“They would still be ille-
gal, to have a nightly or
weekly vacation rental, even
if it is an accessory dwelling
unit,” he said.
Responding to concerns
about excess parking, Cro-
nin suggested the commis-
sion require all new parking
associated with ADUs to be
off-street.
trying to remedy it.
Doug Thompson, of Asto-
ria, said increasing hous-
ing density is “not a politi-
cally pain-free exercise, but
I believe it’s a necessary one
if we are going to increase
the supply and, therefore, the
affordability of housing all
types.”
But he and his fellow
speakers urged the commis-
sion to further investigate
the issue, including the chal-
lenges other cities have faced
after authorizing ADUs.
A handful of speakers
felt the ADU proposal was
moving too quickly and per-
suaded the commission to
continue the public hearing
at the next meeting.
“I just don’t think we
have enough information as
to how it’s going to affect our
neighborhoods,” Katie Rath-
mell, of Astoria, said.
Moore said the commu-
nity could beneit from an
information session before
the commission makes a rec-
ommendation to the City
Council.
Commissioner Jan Mitch-
ell, who is sympathetic to
many of the community’s
concerns, remarked that
the people objecting to the
ADUs did not also discuss
how to provide affordable
housing. She said locals need
to be careful not to close off
all possible housing solutions
in Clatsop County.
“We do need to ind a
way — and it may not be
tiny homes — but we need
to ind a way for people who
work here to also live here,”
she said, “and right now,
it’s becoming less and less
possible.”
To be continued
Though none spoke in
favor of the proposal, resi-
dents acknowledged the real-
ity of the housing crunch and
commended Cronin and the
Planning Commission for
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