The breakdown
Kristi Brown, GCISD’s director of elementary English, language arts and early childhood education, said the district is projected to see an increase in revenue primarily from its new pre-K program for 3 year olds at the Early Childhood Development Center.
GCISD-based early childhood education revenue is expected to increase by 25.98% in the upcoming school year, according to the district.
The center mainly teaches children of district employees, but the pre-K 3 program is open to any eligible student in the district. The center uses a comprehensive, research-based curriculum known as Frog Street. Pre-K 3 programs allow the district to interact with families early and create an opportunity to build foundational skills, Brown said.
While tuition rates have increased, Brown said the number of families paying tuition have declined because of House Bill 2, which passed during the 89th Texas Legislative session in June, which allows teachers to receive free pre-K for their children.
Regular pre-K tuition rates are $7,000 for the 2025-26 school year at GCISD across 10 payments, according to the district. The district charged $6,185 during the 2023-24 school year, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
The TEA did not have tuition information available for the 2024-25 school year.
The approach
GCISD will join neighboring district Carroll ISD in offering a pre-K 3 program.
Patti Parsons, the executive director of special programs at CISD, said programs like this can set a district apart from others that don’t have similar offerings.
“Our teachers are highly qualified and we’re really laying the groundwork to have advanced academics later on,” she said.
GCISD students who complete the 4-year-old pre-K program are ready or advanced for kindergarten, Brown said.
“They have the pre-reading skills that they need, know their letter sounds, know how to use their phonetic awareness to segment words,” she said. “All those reading foundational skills that will make them successful.”
