Two local benefactors are holding back on a $700,000 commitment to help make private preschools an affordable option for parents of 4-year-olds.
Officials from the Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County and the Community Education Coalition said they will release those funds to private providers only if property taxpayers agree to pay $12.6 million over seven years to the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. to make public early education for 4-years-olds an affordable option as well.
The early education referendum is on the fall election ballot in Bartholomew County. Early voting has begun at the courthouse, leading up to Election Day on Nov. 6.
Heritage Fund and the Community Education Coalition’s overall goal for preschool education is to give parents with limited financial means choices in determining where to send their 4-year-olds, while at the same time guaranteeing the affordability of preschool education to every county resident.
The nonprofit organizations’ $700,000 commitment would be dispersed in $100,000 increments annually over the next seven years, starting in the 2013-14 school year, so the private providers can give scholarships, said Tracy Souza, president and chief executive officer for the Heritage Fund.
She said her organization and the Community Education Coalition have combined to raise about 65 percent of the $700,000. She is confident they can raise the other 35 percent by soliciting donations from local foundations and businesses.
Taxpayer-supported funds would be dispersed in $1.8 million annual increments to the public school system over seven years, assuming taxpayers commit to it. That amounts to an extra $16 a year for taxpayers owning a $100,000 home.
