Board of ed discusses funding challenges for Northport-East Northport UPK program

Funding for the Northport-East Northport district’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program was a topic of concern at the February 13 board of education (BOE) meeting, where officials discussed financial challenges and constraints related to the New York State grant currently funding most of the program.

Annual tuition to enroll in the UPK program costs more than the state-allotted $5,400 per student, requiring the district to cover the shortfall. This year, the district spent $50,000 to fill the gap, but there is growing concern about rising costs.

“We have an allocation of $1,222,972 for 220 seats,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dave Moyer told the Journal, adding that 182 students are currently enrolled in the program. “We have to return the money for the 38 unused seats and cannot use that to subsidize the actual cost of the program, nor can our providers charge tuition above the $5,400,” Moyer explained. 

The superintendent described the issue as unsustainable and problematic for all districts on Long Island. While some districts in other areas of the state receive more grant funding per student—even though the cost of living is lower in those regions—most districts struggle to cover the costs of the program with the grant alone.

During the BOE meeting, where the issue was first discussed in public, Trustee Larry Licopoli said that the board and community need to decide whether the district should continue supplementing the non-mandated UPK program with taxpayer money.

“Look, I’m the biggest supporter of pre-K—I’d love to have a 3-21 [years old] public education system—but the fact of the matter is that in some respects, we legally can’t even spend money on kids that we’re not responsible for educating, and that would include 3- and 4-year-olds, unless we ask the public for their permission, like in a referendum, to spend X amount of dollars for kids in preschool,” Licopoli said.

Licopoli raised concerns that the community was unaware of the $50,000 spent on the program this year, calling the lack of transparency problematic. “Financially, we have to be really clear that we are allocating public money for something we’re not mandated or required to do,” he said.

Moyer noted that superintendents across the state are growing increasingly frustrated with the UPK funding structure. “We’re trying to, at the state level, get some movement on this issue, and up until now, we have not been very successful,” he explained.

Even though the state grant provides over $1.2 million for UPK, it can only be spent on the number of students enrolled at $5,400 per student. Any unspent funds revert to the state and cannot be used to offset additional UPK costs.

“They try to make it sound like the schools are getting all of this money, even though we can only spend so much of it,” Moyer said, adding that costs for the UPK providers are steadily increasing and many can’t pay their teachers enough. 

Island Kids, for example, pays over $176,000 per year in rent to the district for its space in the Brosnan building, with annual 3% increases as per their contract. Assistant Superintendent of Business Robert Howard said that UPK providers are unable to pay teachers and staff appropriate rates for early childhood education and are therefore running into a quality of education and service issue. 

“They want to maintain a high quality of service, but the system is going to break,” he said. The providers “aren’t crying wolf,” he added, and have been tightening their belt for a number of years, but it has now reached the point of breaking. 

Howard said that these complaints have been brought to the state directly, and officials responded that the grant was designed as seed money, with the expectation that districts would eventually pick up additional costs. “This is the time to act in terms of advocacy and conversations with our representatives,” Howard said.

To listen to the discussion on UPK funding during the February 13 board of education meeting, click here; the conversation begins at 2:30:00.