At the September Levittown Board of Education meeting, the board passed a resolution that would pave the way for a limited number of students to be part of the state's Universal Pre-K program.

Levittown had never been eligible for state funding for the Universal Pre-K program prior to this point. This year the district is eligible for a grant in the amount of $45,900, enough to have 17 district students participate in the program.

The Universal Pre-K Program was established by the state in 1997. The legislation for the program required that every school district in the state form a Prekindergarten Policy Advisory Board. At that time, Levittown's Citizen's Advisory Committee recommended and the board agreed, to provide limited pre-kindergarten services through a private provider on a request for proposal basis.

When Levittown became eligible for funding this year the district went out to bid for a service provider. The only proposal received from a private provider came from Yours Ours Mine Community Center, located in Levittown.

The district will not be responsible for any of the funding for this program. According to Levittown Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Herman Sirois, "The main reason the district is not putting money up for this program is because there's no guarantee that the state will continue to put money up so we don't want to start something that we can't finish."

Funding for this program is determined by the state based upon the size and wealth of the district. The state has set aside a certain amount of money for this program and they divide it between all the districts in New York, with more of the funding going to poorer districts. The selection of students is based upon the district's operation aid ratio and free and reduced lunch program. Although there are approximately 600 4-year-olds living in the district, only 17 of those are eligible to participate in the state's program. Sirois explained, "They don't have to be eligible for the free and reduced lunch. They have to be the 17 most economically disadvantaged students who apply to the Pre-K program. The way we determine that is by the data we get from the free and reduced lunch because that's our only way of getting the information, otherwise we have no way of knowing."

Many school districts, including Levittown, have expressed concerns about the Universal Pre-K program because it has not been determined how long the state will fund this program. Although they received over $45,000 this year, Sirois noted that the district may not even be eligible for those same funds next year.

Another problem with the program is that it is not economically feasible for many private institutions to participate in this program. The 17 students from Levittown will take part in YOM's already established prekindergarten program. "That's why YOM is able to do it, most agencies could not provide a program for the amount of money the state is providing but YOM already has a Pre-K program so a lot of the overhead is already covered. They have space, they have teachers, they have a lot of the overhead so there will be either additional students they take on or even students that they have that now the funding would be covered by this program."

The motion put forth by the Levittown School Board concluded that the implementation of this program is contingent upon the state education department's acceptance of the district's application for the funds.