News Photo by Julie Goldberg Shellie Gohl, coordinator of early learning and instructional services for the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District, speaks Thursday to the district Board of Education about the Great Start Readiness Program.

ALPENA — The region’s Great Start Readiness Program increased to 186 students this school year, Shellie Gohl, of the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District, said Thursday.

Gohl, who is the coordinator of early learning and instructional services for the ESD, said the program is up from 167 students last year.

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 in their communities.

The increase in students comes through a collaboration with the Head Start preschool program — a federal early childhood program for children younger than 5 from low-income families.

Gohl said there are 96 GSRP students and 90 Head Start students.

“We have programs in each of our counties that we service,” Gohl said. “That was a really important decision that we wanted to make.”

Danielle Hansen, early childhood specialist for the district, said the program’s next step is continuing improvement of teachers connecting with each other.

“They’ve been self-assessing themselves and taking video and doing peer reflections and connecting with each other through those videos,” Hansen said. “It’s been a really good thing.”

The program also has new curriculum this year, so a rubric was created of what is expected from teachers, Hansen said.

A recent study completed by the School Finance Research Collaborative showed it costs approximately $14,000 to educate a preschooler, but Gohl said the district only gets about $7,200 per preschooler.

“We’re getting about half of what it really, really takes,” she said.

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

In other business

The Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District Board of Education on Thursday also approved:

∫ the State of Michigan Integrated Pest Management Training Manual.

∫ the purchase of a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox LS AWD from Cliff Anschuetz Chevrolet for $23,661.60. The vehicle will take four to six weeks to be delivered.