MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. — Preschool for All was designed with the purpose of having free, universal preschool access for everyone in Multnomah County by 2030. It was passed by voters back in 2020, funded solely by a personal income tax on high-income earners.
Now, there's been a policy change set to take effect in the 2025-2026 school year. There will be a cap on continuity of care seats, capped at a maximum of 50%.
This means for the 2025-2026 school year, there's a maximum of 50% of the total open seats at any program site that can be reserved for children currently enrolled and attending.
For families to qualify as a continuity of care, or COC seat, they must also not be enrolled in PFA but simply attending a PFA site. This policy change has some exceptions, like the 50% cap only applies to center child care, meaning providers that offer care at a center establishment. It does not apply to preschools offered by providers inside their homes, which classifies as family child care.
While there's a concern that some families may be forced to look elsewhere for child care if enrolled, the county said this is not as big as a threat as it may seem.
“There are 3,000 slots that are allocated for the upcoming school year, at least, and of those 3,000, only six have chosen to reduce their slots because of this policy so far," said Ryan Yambra, a spokesperson for Multnomah County.
He said this policy change is about fairness.
“A policy change that we recently made is based on the fact that a growing number of Preschool for All students were unable to access the most popular centers," he said, adding that in terms of funding, the program has raked in more money than expected.
For example, in the fiscal year 2024, while the budget revenue was expected to be $152,592,000, the actual revenue was $187,041,786, according to numbers provided by the county. In addition, seats, also known as slots, have continued to increase yearly.
Yambra said they will exceed their goal of providing 3,000 seats for the next school year.
Still, some may wonder where their money is going, and what happens to the few students who are disenrolled.
“We're improving incrementally. We save the revenue, and we invest the revenue each year to expand our preschool for all capacity," said Yambra.
"There's empathy. We understand what it's like, and we're working with every family who is potentially impacted through their center provider to ensure that their needs are met," he continued.
While many PFA sites are located on the eastern parts of the county and overall not as centralized as some may hope, Yambra was able to explain why.
"The current slots and sites that are available are based on who in the early stages of the program was ready to work with the program, and also based on demand," he said.
“We know that certain parts of the county experience economic disparities," he continued. "We're trying to serve those communities that are most impacted in the early years. And as the program expands, the diversity of sites across the county will also expand," he said.
He also said while some slots have been cut, there's also been seats added as well by a provider.
Plus, the program has received interest from potential other future providers, and Yambra said they are also planning to have around 500 educators enroll in their workforce training programs soon as well, which collectively will aid in expanding capacity and workforce.