All Plano ISD early childhood schools will offer after-school care beginning next academic year.

Both Pearson and Isaacs early childhood schools will begin offering the program, also referred to as PASAR, beginning in the 2019-20 school year. Currently, only elementary campuses offering full-day prekindergarten classes and Beaty early childhood school provide the PASAR program.

The program lasts from the end of the campus's school day to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and ends at 6 p.m. on Fridays.

Open pre-K registration for the 2019-20 school year is April 4-5, according to a district-prepared presentation at the PISD board of trustees Feb. 19 work session. The district will determine the sites for its future pre-K expansion based on the number of registered students.

District staff said they expect a 10-20 percent increase in enrolled pre-K students next year. There are 525 enrolled full-day pre-K students this year.

The after-school update comes as part of PISD’s larger effort of expanding its pre-K program.

One of the district’s central premises in expanding its pre-K program is that enrolling more students will reduce historic gaps in educational outcomes for students from low-income families, as previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper.

The district has previously considered increasing pre-K class sizes in existing classrooms, using empty classrooms at elementary school campuses, expanding the district’s early childhood schools or constructing a fourth early childhood school. The district could use a combination of these options to reach its full capacity target.