The Office of the Legislative Auditor General recently released its Systemic Performance Audit of the Park City School District. One of its key findings is that the “district has opportunities to further bolster underperforming student groups through additional oversight.”

One of the primary goals of the Early Childhood Alliance is to ensure that every child is ready for kindergarten. Despite our efforts, the disparity in school readiness continues in the Park City School District. Although the numbers vary slightly year-to-year, since we started tracking the Kindergarten Entry and Exit (KEEP) entry scores in 2019, substantial opportunity gaps remain. Simply stated, our low-income, minority, and English-language learning students are disproportionately less ready for kindergarten than their peers.

Starting school at a disadvantage often inhibits future success. Prenatal and early childhood experiences form the foundation of our social, emotional, cognitive, and language development. Investing in high-quality, affordable early childhood care and education in coordination with parental support and health programs will help:

close the opportunity gap
assist local employers in attracting and retaining their workforce
strengthen our school districts
diminish intergenerational poverty, and
maximize our collective return on investment.

By investing local public funds in our early care and education system, all of these dollars stay local. In contrast, the Park City Education Foundation estimates that 96% of our state-collected education tax dollars go to other school districts.

We know how to solve this problem. We just need to find the will to do so.