Truman Early Childhood Center a start to providing ‘every child’ early education, Superintendent Noreen Bush says

CEDAR RAPIDS — Superintendent Noreen Bush wants every child to have access to early childhood education, starting with the transition of a Cedar Rapids elementary school into a preschool and early childhood center.

Truman Elementary School will become Truman Early Childhood Center next school year, as the Cedar Rapids school district continues work on its facilities master plan.

“Preschool is not a fully funded program, so we have to find other means to provide access or discounted rates for families who cannot afford preschool,” Bush said during a school board meeting Monday. “We also have families that pay tuition to attend preschool.”

“Our vision is every child has access, but we need funding to do that,” Bush said.

Bush said the district has used grants and pandemic relief funds to expand preschool to more families this year.

The next steps in transitioning Truman to an early childhood center is staffing.

District officials also hope to provide child care for 3-year-olds before they enter preschool and wraparound care to working families. Wraparound care includes before- and after-school care options and transportation.

Last month, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced several initiatives to address Iowa’s child care shortage. Part of this initiative is an additional $10 million in funding to support the expansion of existing child care facilities and new centers.

Another $100,000 is being allocated by the Iowa Department of Education through a federal education-related pandemic relief program for new blended child care and preschool learning opportunities.

These are “great proclamations around child care,” Bush said. “We want to provide that for every child in our community if we can get funding for that.”

“When we build it, they usually come.”

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