Courtesy Photo Sara Groat, lead preschool teacher at Ella White Elementary School, reads to students during a school day last school year.

ALPENA — State funding for the Alpena Great Start Readiness Program is still undetermined, but the program will take place this fall.

GSRP is a preschool program for 4-year-old children at risk of educational failure, such as those from low-income families, those with disabilities, and those whose families do not speak English. The state allocates money to each intermediate school district to administer the program locally.

The program can’t start for the 2019-20 school year until the state budget is completed, and the Legislature is taking longer to complete the state budget than it has for the past several years. Local school administrators aren’t expecting a completed budget until the fall.

But the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District might take a different direction.

Shellie Gohl, ESD coordinator of early learning and instructional services, said the program can “cautiously” begin, but it’s a chance the district takes.

“What we’re trying to decide is, do we take the chance for our community?'” Gohl said. “We are 80% confident that we’re going to hold harmless from last year, but, with that said, you never know what happens in legislation.”

The ESD has two different calendars set up, Gohl said. One starts in September, like in years past, while the other calendar starts in October.

Gohl said starting in October could cause problems, since the program has guidelines of 30 weeks of instruction and a minimum of 120 days. She said that, unless kids are going five days a week — which would mean teachers have no planning time — the program might not make the minimum number of days, especially with snow days factored in.

“We’ll be making a decision soon to say, ‘Yep, we’re going to go ahead and just start and have faith that it all turns out,'” Gohl said. “Starting in October is not the best feasible option for us if we’re going to try to get in all our programming requirements. We’re holding on to see what happens, but, at the same time, having some really serious conversations about doing what’s best for kids, what’s best for families, and making sure that we can take a leap of faith.”

To be ready in case state aid funding is lower than what the district expects, Gohl said more slots are being created and shared with Head Start — a federal early childhood program for children younger than 5 from low-income families. She said the district looks at the number of slots to make sure it can sustain both programs.

“We’re all in limbo, and at the end of the day,” Gohl said.

If the state allocation came in lower than expected, the ESD would use carryover GSRP grant money from the state to make up the difference, ESD Superintendent Scott Reynolds said.

The district is expecting to receive the same amount as last year, but is hoping for an increase in GSRP funding because an increase hasn’t happened in seven years, Gohl said.

Gohl said a School Finance Research Collaborative study said districts should get $14,000 per preschooler, but the ESD only receives $7,250 per child. That creates issues when trying to run the program.

Enrollment for the 2019-20 school year is still going on, Gohl said. There are slots for 140 children, but Gohl said that includes the partnership with the Head Start program. Last year, there were 120 children in the GSRP Program, with Head Start having the remaining slots.

Right now, it’s a waiting game until the state completes its budget, Gohl said, but districts have to move forward and plan.

“You can’t always wait. Life doesn’t happen that way,” she said. “But it is about doing what’s best for kids and the community. But, at the same time, making sure that we don’t put the AMA into a financial crisis, either, because our only funding is state aid.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.