The Howard School District was recently awarded a $1000 Operation Round-Up® grant from Central Electric Cooperative to help purchase furniture for the preschool.
"The Howard School District is offering preschool for the first time this year to help meet the growing demand for preschool services amidst the challenge our community faces of fewer and fewer daycares," Howard High School Principal Travis Aslesen explained in the grant application.
The school board and administrative staff have discussed the need for a preschool for the last five years and have now taken the initiative to help meet the challenge for families.
"The preschool will eventually be fully funded through the tuition paid by families, but in the first year, it will need to be supplemented with school district funds. Tuition dollars will be used to pay teachers, but there will be extra costs for the preschool that the district will absorb without state financial assistance or parent tuition," Aslesen said.
The initial expenses of starting the preschool included the cost of tables, chairs, shelving, furniture and other classroom needs.
Operation Round-Up is a voluntary program in which Central Electric members round up their monthly statement to the next whole dollar, and the extra cents accumulate to support local projects. Tami Moore of Howard serves on the Operation Round-Up board of trustees for Miner County.
"The Operation Round-Up grant was used to purchase furniture for the kids, taking that burden off the school district and taxpayers," Moore said. "If parents don't have childcare, they can't contribute to the local workforce, so the preschool is stepping up to help address the need."
The next grant application deadline is November 1. For more information about the program, call 605-996-7516 or visit www.centralec.coop and click on member programs.