Public schools offer early learning programs without being subject to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) licensing requirements. This exempts them from DCYF’s costly, labor-intensive licensing processes and facility mandates, creating a significant inequity between public and private schools.
Private elementary schools seek the same consideration to provide a transitional year (such as TK, K-prep, or other four-year-old support programs) without DCYF oversight. This alleviates the program from additional funding, separate protocols, and facility standards that don’t align with the school’s established operations. DCYF rules limit the integration of the pre-K classroom into the broader school community, raising costs and causing frustration for families.
The opportunities accessible to public, charter, and tribal school families should also extend to families at approved private schools. By removing DCYF’s regulatory hurdles for four-year-olds in elementary school classrooms, Their empty licensed classrooms could grow capacity for ages 0 to 3, helping to expand early learning options for all families in Washington.
