Yours, Mine and Ours

Kidango, with the generous support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and in partnership with the Office of Assemblymember Wilma Chan, the California Child Development Administrators Association (CCDAA) and the California Head Start Association (CHSA), conducted a survey of preschool providers operating programs on school district facilities. The purpose of this survey was to identify challenges and successes in preschool provider/school district partnerships in order to look at legislative and regulatory policy and practices, as well as policies and practices within schools and districts that will be mutually beneficial to the provider and district and better serve children and families now and in the future as numbers of children enrolled in preschool programs increase.

The survey was posted online and a link sent to members of both CCDAA and CHSA, who had one week to respond. 61 providers responded to the survey. 46 percent of the respondents have operated preschool programs on school district facilities for five years or more. Three percent of the respondents have operated a program for less than one year, and 88 percent have operated a program for five years or more. The majority of programs have been in operation between two and five years (37 %). The percentage of programs in operation for more than five years is 28 percent, and 25 percent of programs have been in operation less than 1 year.