LAKEVIEW — Southport-area parents have lost a pre-K option for next year, as Chicago Public Schools ended Blaine Elementary's last tuition-based pre-K class due to the school's overcrowding.
Principal Troy LaRaviere told Blaine's local school council this week that CPS had informed him that the program would not continue.
Blaine, 1420 W. Grace St., is at 138 percent capacity and has been trying to expand for two years. Officials have crafted a $22.5 million proposal for an annex that would ease space issues.
LaRaviere also said it's "quite possible" enrollment will increase next year due to a big kindergarten class.
But the principal is trying to find alternative ways to house the pre-K program due to demand in the neighborhood. More area kids in pre-K also helps prepare the students better for the first year of school at Blaine, he said.
"People assume every kid comes here ready," LaRaviere said. "That's not the case."
He has been in talks with local businesses for outside spaces and discussing the possibility of splitting a larger classroom or the library to make room for the program.
"We are trying to create reasons and incentives for CPS to begin to reconsider," he said.
Already, Blaine has had to decrease the amount of pre-K due to overcrowding.
The school offers three shifts of "Ready to Learn" pre-K, half-day classes paid for by CPS, but due to space issues, it must offer one session in the afternoon. And the school went from two classes of tuition-based pre-K last year to just one this year, with word that the remaining program would close at the end of the year due to enrollment projects.
Ready to Learn pre-K at Blaine had a waiting list of more than 200 students last year. LaRaviere didn't have numbers for the tuition-based pre-K waitlist, but said it was also significant.
"There was a lot of demand," LaRaviere said. "There was a groundswell with word that there would be fewer classes."
Tuition for the CPS pre-K program costs $12,220 for the 2014-2015 school year, not including meals. It was started to offer parents an affordable full-day education program.
Just more than a dozen other CPS schools offer a tuition-based program, including Burley, Hamilton and Nettelhorst.
CPS spokesman Joel Hood said in a statement that the district "is committed to providing high quality early childhood programs to as many children as possible, prioritizing our neediest students and families" but the district can't provide more space for the program without overcrowding.
"The Office of Early Childhood Education, Blaine Elementary School and the Network Office will continue to collaborate to provide quality early education programs that meet the demands of the community," he said.
LaRaviere sees the pre-K program as the beginning of college readiness and as a reason parents end up sending their kids to Blaine. He's still trying to find a solution.
"It gives us the opportunity to begin to develop literacy and numeracy skills, so children can be academically and socially ready," he said.
