Montclair BOE talks public Pre-K, DACA

By ERIN ROLL
roll@montclairlocal.news

The future of Montclair’s Pre-K program came up for discussion during Wednesday night’s BOE workshop meeting.

The board presented a resolution that calls for the district to look into providing publicly-funded Pre-K options for three and four-year-olds. The resolution will go up for a vote at the next meeting on Feb. 20.

Montclair began a public Pre-K program in the 1970s, and was one of the first towns in the state of New Jersey to do so. However, the district was forced to cut the program in 1996 because of budget issues. In 1998, the Montclair Community Pre-K was founded to help meet the resulting need.

The board also discussed a resolution regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Dream Act, and legal protections for students covered under that legislation.

A large number of Montclair Education Association members were in attendance. During the Jan. 22 meeting, the MEA said, two audience members made statements about staff members at Watchung and Nishuane. The statements, which accused the teachers of discrimination, were false, according to the MEA.

The board has announced a date and time for a public forum, when the board expects to introduce the finalists for the BOE position.

The candidates’ forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the main auditorium at Montclair High School on Feb. 26.

Each school will have a box set up in the main office where parents can students can write questions and drop them off. Questions may also be emailed to supersearch@montclair.k12.nj.us.

This is a developing story. Follow the Montclair Local for more information.