USD 308 accepts $103,000 grant from United Way to pay for childcare expansion

CAPTION: From left: Board Members Gleysha Mendez-Rosario, Tad Dower, Cheryl Thompson, Darcie Canfield-Riggs, Valarie Gibson-Smith, Lance Patterson and President Laura Corey. CREDIT USD 308

By Kate Irelan

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In their regular monthly meeting on Monday, the USD 308 Board of Education accepted $103,000 from the Reno County Childcare Taskforce in partnership with the United Way Innovation and Expansion Gap Funding Grant to expand the Lil’ Hawks Child Care Center.

The money will be used next year, and the remaining funding for the project will come from capital outlay. The $103,000 stems from ARPA funds.

Superintendent Dawn Johnson said that this money is in addition to the $190,000 of the ARPA Task Force money they received, and they knew they were going to get this money because they are expanding the facility. “The United Way is just now giving us the authorization to accept this money,” said Johnson. The next step is to bring to the board where the school district will place the money and what they will take out of capital outlay. She said that the project should be up and going by September 2025.

The board also approved an agreement to continue a co-op with the Early Education Center and the Reno County Educational Co-op. Johnson said that the cost of Reno County preschool services this year went up by about $100,000. She said that partly what has happened is that other communities are opening daycares, which has taken some kids away from Early Ed, and that it still costs the same to run the building, even with fewer kids. Currently, about 68% of the students at the EEC are from the Hutchinson school district.

“What is the future of the Early Ed center? Rising costs, but the amount of money we’re getting from the state is staying the same. If the environment is changing, what are the things we need to look at?” asked Johnson.

Board member Tad Dower said it will eventually become a USD 308 facility. He also said he appreciated taking the time to really look at it because it has been a good resource for the county. 

Johnson also gave a few notable updates. She addressed the recent threats made on social media to schools, and that some of the schools were in Kansas, but she was not aware of any Hutchinson Public Schools that were part of the threats. She said anytime this happens, they report to the Hutchinson Police Department. The KBI has determined that some of the threats may be coming from Texas. “A few parents decided to keep their children at home. And we support that. We may have more of what I call ‘passive threats’ we will have to deal with,” said Johnson.

Johnson said that she’s had a vision for making the homecoming parade a community event, but has not put a process in place. She thinks part of that process might be a form where people can say they want to participate and ask the high school to decide because it is their parade. “We’ll keep working on that to make it a robust 308 event and not allow any non-308 school entities in the parade.”

The USD 308 board meets every second and fourth Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Administration Center, 1520 N. Plum. For more information and to view the agenda or minutes of the meetings, visit their website: https://www.usd308.com/page/boe

CAPTION: From left: Board Members Gleysha Mendez-Rosario, Tad Dower, Cheryl Thompson, Darcie Canfield-Riggs, Valarie Gibson-Smith, Lance Patterson and President Laura Corey. CREDIT USD 308 By Kate Irelan In their regular monthly meeting on Monday, the USD 308 Board of Education accepted $103,000 from the Reno County Childcare