(Estherville)– The Estherville-Lincoln Central School District has been awarded a 275-thousand dollar state grant to provide preschool for 86 children.
The grant is through a program passed in the 2007 legislative session with a goal that every four-year-old in Iowa will have access to quality, affordable preschool within four years.
Awarded by the Iowa Department of Education, the grants announced this week will provide preschool for over 4,300 four-year-olds beginning this fall.
The new pre-school program is voluntary and does not compete with existing private or public preschools.
All school districts receiving grants this year will receive funds again in the future through a new preschool aid formula.
Approved last session, House File 877 created a statewide preschool plan and committed an additional 15 million dollars each year over the next four years. After collaborating with local public and private preschool providers, school districts applied earlier this summer for the grants.
