Board members of Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 will hold a workshop to discuss a pre-Kindergarten program proposed for Wiscasset schools. Their decision to hold the workshop followed a 35-minute discussion about hunger, social issues, the cost of transportation and other challenges facing the school district. 

Interim superintendent Alan Hawkins said the number of special education students has increased and that kindergarteners are reportedly having difficulty in classrooms. 

Recently, parents, residents and school staff concerned about students attending school hungry have made the link between this hunger and academic achievement. They have launched a program to provide food for students over the weekends. 

Referred to by board members as the “backpack program,” also called “Feed Our Scholars," the organization aims to raise $10,000 by September to provide the food for students at the start of the 2013-2014 school year. 

Assistant Superintendent Patricia Watts said Two Bridges Regional Jail is assisting with the project. The Good Shepherd Food Bank is partnering with the organization to provide the food.

Wiscasset Primary School principal Cheryl Howe spoke with board members about another program, for age four children in Wiscasset. The early education program would require in-kind and financial support from the school district, but Howe said the school district already has such programs at Chelsea and Windsor schools. 

Howe highlighted some of the benefits of pre-Kindergarten programs, such as: early engagement of academics; a connection to public school; social and emotional development; and early intervention for special needs. 

Preschool programs also offer schools the opportunity to work collaboratively with families, offer trained mental health providers, provide case management for families, and include support for dental health and nutrition. Through such work, school becomes the center of a community.

A relationship between Wiscasset schools and the Head Start preschool program has been in place for years, Howe said, but their long-term goal is to extend this service to all age four children in the RSU. Over time, the program has helped a lot of children reach academic success as they progressed into elementary, middle and high schools, Howe said.

The discussion among board members showed they want to make sure children have access to quality education and programs designed to help children early on who might otherwise face extreme difficulties in school. But they are concerned about the high cost of transportation. 

“Transportation is an important part for families who don't have the means to get their children to these programs,” interim RSU superintendent Alan Hawkins said.

The Head Start program, which is federally funded, reaches families with needs that can be hidden. Many families need parenting support and some of the most basic needs that do not get met impact a child's progress. 

Sue Kingsland is the director of Midcoast Maine Community Action, the Bath-based organization that oversees the Head Start program in Wiscasset. She said one program in the state provided transportation, but added, “It's a costly problem.” She said the RSU could apply for waivers to the regional Head Start office in Boston.

Howe said the town of Wiscasset provided transportation for one year roughly six years ago, but was unsure of the exact cost. “Do I think we should do it if we could? Yes,” Howe said. “But we have to look at the costs. We have to discover what would transportation really mean.”

According to a 2011 Maine Head Start Outcomes Report, eleven of the Head  Start organizations (called “grantees”) are funded mostly through federal grants, with some additional funding from states. Maine's allocation to the program in 2009-2010 was $3.9 million and the program received $27.7 million in federal funds.

Head Start provides child care resources and education for low income families. According to the report, one third of the parents whose children were enrolled in Head Start were unemployed in 2009-2010.