A pre-K update from Forsyth County

A local early childhood initiative gains county support

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In the spring of 2021, I was traveling to eastern North Carolina asking early childhood educators, programs, and districts about pre-K — efforts to expand access, barriers to that expansion, and its place in larger early childhood landscapes.

Bob Feikema, former president of Family Services in Forsyth County, saw that reporting and reached out. Feikema told me about the Pre-K Priority, a local coalition of advocates and organizations that had been advocating to establish universal pre-K in the area for seven years. Through the pandemic, the effort had taken time to ensure parent voice was at its center and that more people, particularly community leaders of color, were at the table.

Feikema has since retired, but the work of the group, along with a community-wide task force, is gaining momentum.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the local county commissioners awarded $3.7 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan funds to pay for 30 pre-K classrooms and educators and establish both a high-quality pre-K model and a proof point for future investment.

Smart Start of Forsyth County is the grant recipient. Its president and CEO, Louis Finney, told me that supporting the workforce and increasing school readiness will be the two primary aims with the funding.

That means a particular focus, Finney said, on supporting the private child care industry, which is struggling with lower compensation, fewer public funding streams to pull from, and an inability to find staff.

“What we’re trying to do is level that playing field and just focus on this as a children aspect as opposed to different program options,” Finney said. “That way, regardless of where a child is at in our county, we want them to get the equal services.”

The Pre-K Priority will release a report with recommendations on future expansion in the fall. I’ll keep following this story — one with lessons for similar efforts and those facing similar challenges across the state.