The Georgetown ISD school board unanimously voted to reinstate full-day pre-kindergarten starting in the fall, which will be the first time the program runs for a full-day since it was cut before the 2012-2013 school year.

The board first discussed the idea during a board meeting in December, and officially voted for reinstatement during a meeting March 21.

After the Texas Legislature cut $5.4 billion from public schools in 2011, GISD experienced a $4.8 million budget shortfall going into the 2011-12 school year. The board opted to cut existing programs during the 2012-13 budget process, and full-day pre-K was reduced to a half-day, according to the district.

The program served 452 students in 2010, but cutting the program to half-day dropped close to 200 students, said Karen Dooley, the assistant superintendent for human resources for the district. The pre-K program currently serves 257 students.

Dooley said returning to full-day pre-K would increase enrollment by 143 students, which would require four more teachers and aides at a total cost of $280,000. However, because of the state funding formula and the increase in the district’s average daily attendance, funding generated by the increase in enrollment would be $450,450, so the extra enrollment funds would cover the additional costs, Dooley told the board.

“It’s cost-effective, curriculum-effective and student-effective to do it; it’s what’s best for our kids,” she said. “We think that it’s a good idea to move forward with this.”

GISD Board President Scott Alarcon said the board had to make hard choices when cutting expenses on the heels of the reductions from the state, and the students that could have used all day pre-kindergarten suffered.

“These are some of our most vulnerable kiddos, and the impact long-term is significant,” he said. “I think it’s important as leaders when you get it wrong to say you got it wrong, and I think I got it wrong on that one because I don’t think I fully appreciated the significant reduction that would happen to those kids.”

Dooley said GISD also plans to apply for a high performance pre-K grant through the governor’s office in April, which could provide up to $1,500 per student to improve existing programs while establishing new high-quality programs. Dooley said the funds could be used to support moving to the full-day program.