1. Helen Scott & Anthony Davison School Readiness Department
Huntsville City Schools Pre-Kindergarten Tuition Proposal 2019 – 2020 School Term
Helen Scott & Anthony Davison
School Readiness Department
March 26, 2019

2. HCS PreK Funding Concerns
Unlike almost every other district in Alabama, HCS charges no tuition.
While the State of Alabama provides some funding through the Office of School Readiness, HCS spends approximately $3.3 million on its 40 Pre-K classrooms every year.
Given the budget constraints, paying that amount is no longer feasible.
In fact, if the District does not make the changes in this proposal, it would need to make substantial cuts to its Pre-K classes.

3. HCS PreK Funding Solutions
HCS administrators have been working with the Office of School Readiness (“OSR”) and the Alabama State Department of Education (“ALSDE”) to develop a solution.
Proposed Solution:
Fund all Title I school Pre-K programs using mostly Title I money.
Use the sliding tuition scale from the Office of School Readiness for students attending all non-Title I schools.
More details on the following slides.

4. Proposal Details (Title I Schools)
HCS has 11 Title I elementary schools with Pre-K programs.
These 11 schools operate 19 Pre-K classrooms.
Under this proposal:
All students at Title I schools would be eligible for free Pre-K services.
Title I money would cover the cost of the teaching units in each Title I Pre-K classroom, a savings of approximately $939,709 per year.

5. Proposal Details (Non-Title I Schools)
HCS has 15 Non-Title I schools with Pre-K programs.
These 15 schools operate 20 Pre-K classrooms.
Under this proposal:
Students at Non-Title I schools would be eligible for Pre-K services but would be required to pay tuition based on the OSR tuition sliding scale.
In the past, HCS has applied for and received a number of OSR grants to help cover the cost of Pre-K classrooms, and this would continue.
The tuition received would supplement the money from OSR grants.

6. OSR Tuition Sliding Scale
Using the OSR sliding scale tuition guidelines.

7. Proposal Details (Non-Title I Schools)
Payment of Pre-K fees will be done on the “My School Fees”.
For more information, please visit

8. Summary
Under this new proposal, HCS should save approximately $1,000,000 per year.
Additionally, HCS will be able to retain most, if not all, of its current Pre-K classrooms.