Despite Parent Pleas, D159 Quadruples Early Start Fees: VIDEO

After district staffers presented the options of doubling the fees parents pay for the Early Start at-risk childhood development program or tripling them, the quadrupled them.

The fee, previously set at $168 a school year, will go to $675 a year, the board approved unanimously on Thursday.

The state cut all funding for Mokena's Early Start program this year, .

The hike means D159 must find $60,800 to $64,800 a year to run the program instead of the $75,000 to $79,000 previously needed.

"Right now, anything that's not in the budget will come out of reserves," board President John Troy said.

Board Estimated Hike Costs

The district determined the previous price tag of $168 per student per school year by looking at the costs of "consumables" like snacks, materials for art projects, etc., Assistant Superintendent Charles Vitton said.

The new fee of $675 per student per school year was based on board members' perceptions of what families seeking an early childhood program for their at-risk 3 and 4 year olds might be able to afford. Federal guidelines waive the fees of students at-risk because of economic concerns.

The board arrived at the price of $75 a month after some board members thought families could afford paying $100 a month and others thought $50 was more reasonable. Board member Joe Spalla suggested the board "split the difference."

The vote for $75 a month for the nine-month program was unanimous.

This comes to $675 a school year, more than four times the current fee. The two options district staff originally presented were for $336 and $504.

Parents Protested Hikes

Early Start is a program for at-risk 3 and 4 year olds, capped at 40 students a year. About a third of the students meet federal poverty guidelines to have their fees waived.

This means the hike will affect 28 or so families a year like Andrea Espinosa's. Her son Nico, now 7, could not speak at age 3 due to what was later found to be an undiagnosed medical condition.

Her insurance wouldn't cover speech therapy, but the state sent her to Early Start. Now caught up with his peers, Nico has the opposite problem, as Andrea found out during a recent parent-teacher conference.

"The teacher said, 'He's so friendly, everybody loves him, but he does talk a little much,'" Espinosa said. "I was literally in tears."

Espinosa was one of a group of parents and teachers who spoke to the board before the meeting. See video of their speeches attached to this article.

Although the board is not legally required to operate Early Start, kindergarten or any program for students younger than first grade, board member Kathy Moore said the program will help D159 in the long run by dealing with problems that could require greater intervention later.

"Well-designed early childhood interventions have been found to generate a return to society ranging from $1.80 to $17 for every dollar spent on the program," she said.

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