CCS Board Discusses UPK, Coaching Staff

By KRISTIAN CONNOLLY
COOPERSTOWN

Third time’s the charm? That’s just one question after Universal Pre-K was brought back to the table at the Cooperstown Central School District Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, August 14.

While Universal Pre-K was not among the topics on the published agenda for the meeting, the subject was the primary focus of CCSD Superintendent Sarah Spross’ prepared report to the BOE. Spross said she’s heard, indirectly, that Universal Pre-K is a desire of some community members, so the superintendent felt it was the right time to “put everyone on the same page” about the idea so that the current board could decide whether to further explore the possibility.

Spross, who has been in the superintendent’s seat since 2021, said this is at least the third instance that UPK has been brought to the BOE during that time, with prior iterations of the board declining to proceed toward establishing the program.

“Universal Pre-K…is a state and federally funded pre-kindergarten program offered to families free of charge,” Spross informed the BOE, later adding that UPK has to be offered five days a week, but that it could be full- or half-day. But, Spross said, the program is “not an entitlement, and not all families have access to UPK, and they don’t have to.”

In the presentation, Spross highlighted some of the many competing challenges a school district faces in New York State when considering whether to offer UPK. Challenges that range from the more obvious (for example, funding and available classroom space, or staff certification requirements) to the less apparent, such as the fact that state law requires that the selection process for filling a UPK class be conducted at random. That means that the potential exists that not everyone who expresses interest in the program is guaranteed to get a spot.