Perkins Board Puts Preschool Expansion On Hold

An expansion of the Little Treasures Preschool program has been put on hold. 

On Wednesday, the Perkins Local School District Board of Education members voted unanimously to not move the program to Perkins High School from Furry Elementary. Instead, Board members said they preferred to take a holistic look at the district’s buildings and consider a master plan to define future building needs.

“I don’t know if this is the right direction or not,” said member Jason Dulaney of the proposed program move to the high school.

“We could be making a wrong turn that could hurt us down the road,” added member Scott Hart. 

The district had been planning an expansion of the preschool program, which currently is at Furry Elementary. But, with Furry cramped for space with kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade students already, additional room is necessary to accommodate any more students in the program.

The Perkins Schools administration in November presented the Board members with six options for expanding Little Treasures. The options included moving it to the north end of the PHS building, shifting grades across all four of the district’s buildings, and using modular classrooms at Furry.

At the meeting on Wednesday, Superintendent Todd Boggs recommended that the program move to the high school building. He told Board members he based that recommendation on a survey earlier this month of the district’s staff. More than 120 staff members responded to the survey, and 52 percent said they preferred it move to the high school and 24 percent said they were in favor of grade shifts across the district. 

The preschool expansion is called for as a key objective in the Perkins Schools strategic plan, which the Board adopted in January 2020. Expanding preschool would enable Perkins teachers to work with more students at an earlier age, and help the district address issues with literacy. 
More than 100 children attend the Little Treasures program, which has half-day preschool sessions.