SLO County school district could cut transitional kindergarten — and parents are furious
San Luis Coastal Unified School District’s transitional kindergarten could be on the chopping block, administrators warned a crowded board room Tuesday night.
The announcement came during the district’s fiscal update to the board as administrators informed trustees about the district’s ongoing budget deficit.
A $6 million structural deficit was projected for 2025-26, which was expected to grow to over $9 million by 2027, district officials told The Tribune in December.
Stagnant enrollment, a lack of funding from the state, the depreciation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and the expiration of one-time COVID-19 relief money all contributed to the deficit.
Trustees will be forced to take corrective action on the budget in the coming months, likely resulting in a reduction of staff and services.
One of the services that could be on the chopping block is transitional kindergarten, administrators announced Tuesday. Transitional kindergarten is a pre-K program that serves as a stepping stone into kindergarten.
In 2021, a law was passed mandating universal transitional kindergarten across California. By the 2025-26 academic year, any district operating kindergarten was supposed to offer the program to all 4-year-old children.
But San Luis Coastal is a basic aid district, meaning it receives most of its funding through local property taxes rather than the Local Control Funding Formula. Basic aid districts don’t receive state funding for transitional kindergarten and are expected — but not required — to offer it, according to state websites.
The Tribune reached out to the education department to confirm this. Spokesperson Scott Roark said that while all districts must offer transitional kindergarten, there is no penalty for basic aid districts if they do not.
Deficit could shutter foundational pre-K program
Crowds of parents and staff showed up to Tuesday night’s board meeting to protest the possible closure of transitional kindergarten. District officials said they had also received over 200 emails prior to the meeting.
The meeting was rife with emotion — some attendees held signs saying “Save our TK,” while others wept in the audience. Many expressed anger and frustration with district officials.
San Luis Obispo resident and parent Lucia Stone questioned the district’s motives in considering cutting the program.
“If this is a political ploy against the state of California to fund TK because we’re a basic aid district, please know you’re doing so on the backs of local families, your neighbors, your friends and your family,” Stone said. “We are already struggling to make our mortgage, feed our families and pay our taxes — which is your salaries.”
Stone continued: “We cannot afford your temper tantrum with the state. Please don’t put this on our backs, and let our students thrive.”
Josh Warn, a Los Osos resident and special education teacher at Arroyo Grande High School, described the decision to cut transitional kindergarten as a “recipe for a lawsuit.” Warn also noted that the district’s 2022 bond measure funded the construction and expansion of classrooms for transitional kindergarten.
“I don’t want my daughter’s education or professions of other educators used as vehicles in your game of chicken with Sacramento,” Warn said. “Again, it is not my intent to threaten, but if I have to drive my daughter 15 miles round trip to Harloe Elementary every day next year to receive the services she is legally obligated to receive, I can tell you who’s going to be paying my gas mileage.”
Fiona Lloyd-Moffett, transitional kindergarten teacher at Hawthorne Elementary, spoke emotionally to the board.
“My heart is breaking right now,” Lloyd-Moffett said through tears. “These are our youngest children, our most vulnerable children. We have to find a way. We have to find a way to provide this service to all of our children.”
Many parents and staff members said the elimination of transitional kindergarten would create an equity issue. Wealthier families would be able to enroll their kids in private preschools, while lower-income families would be left without vital pre-K resources.
Dozens of other speakers testified to the value of transitional kindergarten in the district. Cutting the program now, some parents said, would leave them with just months to find childcare in a region where affordable childcare services are notoriously hard to find.
“Cutting TK funding would send a message that the needs of young learners and struggling families are not a priority, and we risk leaving behind families who need the program most,” said Kerry DiMaggio, parent to a transitional kindergarten student at Sinsheimer Elementary. “You have the opportunity with this decision to show that our district values equity in education.”
District administrators also spoke to the importance of transitional kindergarten.
Superintendent Eric Prater told the board and the audience that he believes the district’s transitional kindergarten program is “one of the best in the state.”
“I wish we had more options than we do, I really do,” he said. “I sincerely wish we had more options.”
Prater encouraged families to contact their local legislators and the Governor’s Office to lobby for transitional kindergarten funding for basic aid districts and for continued unitary tax from PG&E if Diablo Canyon remains open.
The board did not take action on the transitional kindergarten item Tuesday night. Budget cut decisions will be made at future board meetings.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 1:49 PM.
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