By Diana XinThe Daily Northwestern

The District 65 Board of Education voted 4 to 2 Monday night to discontinue the Community Child Care program at the end of the school year, saving the district approximately $164,000 a year.

The school board also discussed the state’s yearly school assessment report cards, which were released in March.

The Community Child Care program, which began in 1971, provides pre-kindergarten education for low and middle-income families.

The program has been shrinking since the 2004-2005 school year, from five classrooms to three and now to one. It currently serves 15 students, nine of whom will be attending kindergarten next year.

An April report from the board’s program policy committee recommended ending the child-care program, and expanding other preschool programs with those funds and possible state grants.

At the meeting, Superintendent Hardy Murphy and assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Susan Schultz said they supported ending the program to transfer funds to the Head Start Program and state pre-K programs.

After this school year, one teacher, in addition to the nine students headed to kindergarten, will be leaving the program, she said.

Amy Small, Head Start facilitator, also said she supports the change, which would help the school balance finances.

School board members Jerome Summers and Sharon Sheehan voted against the decision.

Sheehan said there needs to be more discussion about the role of early childhood education in the district.

“To lose that program loses a way of delivering preschool education that may be important to parents,” Sheehan said. “(But) if we are going to cut the program, this is the year to cut it.”

Summers said the program was an important function of the school district, and “there’s no assurance” that the other programs will work.

Board member Marianne Kountoures encouraged the board to be cautious and not to fall into “the same budget hole.”

“Are we in the child-care business or the K-8 business?” she also asked.

Schultz, however, said the board has become responsible for both.

“We’re at a point where we are committed to preschool education,” she said. “We’re looking for options to support more students.”

The board also discussed district report cards, which showed positive outcomes compared to other schools in the state.

The percentage of District 65 students meeting and exceeding standards on the Illinois Standard Achievement Test is higher than state averages across all grade levels.

Scores in reading decreased in middle schools across the state, but not in mathematics.

Board member Mary Rita Luecke said this may be because students have trouble with higher-order thinking problems that are common on middle-school level tests.

Three schools have School Improvement Status – Chute, Nichols and Washington. Schools with this status for multiple years must change their programs or face state corrections.

One plan, to be implemented at Washington, includes several strategies targeting lower-achieving students, focusing on reading and math skills.

Reach Diana Xin at [email protected].