Growing needs for Austin’s littlest learners has the Austin Public School District asking voters for help during a special election that will be held this April.

The Austin School Board passed a resolution on Monday night to host a special election on April 9 that asks voters for the passage of a $24.885 million bond referendum that seeks to create an early childhood center, which would add about 16 classrooms to Woodson Kindergarten Center, expand the cafeteria and kitchens, the gymnasium, as well as to the office, according Superintendent David Krenz.

“This is a culmination of the work that was done last winter with the facilities task force, which was looking at our early childhood space needs,” Krenz said over the phone on Tuesday. “The taskforce came up with the recommendation and finalized that recommendation once we received the demographic studies from our demographer.”

Krenz shared that the district had long waiting lists for early childhood programs, but there were not enough sufficient spaces in the community to provide them. This growing need prompted the creation of the taskforce to look at all spacing needs in the district.

“The original thought was that we would also add a first grade wing to Woodson and be able to move first graders,” he said. “However, because our demographic study showed the number of students growing as a district, our elementary schools will be able to sustain that growth for over eight to 10 years. It’s not necessary to make that huge of a move for everyone in the district. We wanted to focus on early childhood classes rather than relocate them.”

Having an early childhood center housed in Woodson Kindergarten Center created a continuum of educational opportunities for the district’s youngest students. From administration’s standpoint, having a synergy of programs for preschoolers and kindergartners was “critical,” according to Krenz.

“We wanted to create some efficiencies with shared resources and staff between the early childhood and kindergarten center without losing time with transitions or travel,” he added. “We can share those resources and save on transportation time, which works out really well at that stand point.”

Woodson Critters

Woodson Kindergarten Center has been an all-day kindergarten center since 2005. If the bond referendum passes in April, the early childhood center will be housed in the same building. Currently, the Early Childhood Family Education program is through the Community Learning Center that’s temporarily situated at the Queen of Angels site.

“We’re extremely excited to share a site with our preschool students and to build a strong transition from preschool to kindergarten,” said Principal Jill Rollie. “We’re welcoming our preschool friends here at Woodson, and we’ll make a very, very strong program with lots of rich opportunities for our learners.”

There has been a collaborative relationship between Woodson and the CLC, Rollie said, and having all students under the same roof would provide a more seamless transition from preschool to kindergarten and allow them to grow in the same building for more than a year.

“It’s really helping to create successful futures for our littlest learners,” she added.

If the bond referendum passes in April, then construction would be dependent on when architects and engineers finalize plans as well as for bidding. The district has a goal of trying to open the new spaces in fall 2020, but that timeline would be tentative.

“That would be the best case scenario,” Krenz said. “We’re excited that the board sees the work of the taskforce as a positive and that their recommendation is really impactful. The board has shown a history of willingness to work with the community to provide the best spaces and programs as best as possible.”