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VOLUME 120 | ISSUE 31
WEEK OF AUGUST 3, 2023
CARRIAGE RIDES IN GREELEY
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State preschool program leaves some unsure A month before universal preschool starts, Colorado is backpedaling on a major funding promise BY ERICA BREUNLIN THE COLORADO SUN
Folks enjoying a carriage ride around Island Grove Regional Park at the Weld County Fair on July 29. See more photos on PHOTO BY BELEN WARD page 13.
A preschool in Greeley that has shepherded countless kids through the first years of their education over the past 21 years may welcome its last class of 4-year-olds next month, eyeing an uncertain future as it dives into the state’s newly expanded preschool program. Nearby, a different preschool that caters to mostly children of low-income families has only been able to fill a quarter of its classrooms for the start of the school year and is weighing its options — which could include closing its doors. Preschools across Colorado are sprinting to make final preparations for the start of the state’s expanded preschool program, known as universal preschool. And with less than a month until the first day of school, many question whether they’ll have enough state funding to stay open. That question has bubbled up in the past month, after Colorado’s new Department of Early Childhood changed the way it will calculate how much funding preschool providers will receive during their first few months of the program. Instead of paying a provider for the number of students it has the capacity to educate, as originally promised, the SEE UNSURE, P6
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SPINNING OUT STARS Program helps young musicians shine
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