Geary USD 475 has been looking at the need for a new Early Childhood Center facility for three and four year old students. This past year 790 students in that age group were served. Executive Director of Special Education, Nate Downs, told the Board of Education about the desire to have the capacity for more students than they can currently serve due to lack of classroom sizes. "Then the last takeaway was is that as a school district we are really ahead of the curve with our early childhood opportunities. Now we just need the facilities."
A group of officials have made site visits to school districts in North Kansas City, Maize and Emporia to observe existing early childhood centers in those communities. They learned location, size, accessibility and future expansion possibilities are all important components for any new facility project in the future.
Right now the District has an average of about 800 Kindergarten students and the 3-4 year old population is much larger than the total of high school seniors. "Our goal is to have the capacity to serve all of our 4-year old's in full day programs because that's where we're kind of behind the mark because we have half day and full day programs. The District would like to have the capacity to serve all of their 3-year old's on a half day basis.
The school board was in session Wednesday night at the Devin Center.