Assemblyman Scott Gray (R-Watertown) is calling on the Watertown City School District Board of Education to reconsider its pending decision to reallocate universal pre-k (UPK) slots away from trusted community-based organizations (CBOs) and into the school district. The move, Gray warns, will come at a significant cost to both taxpayers and the region’s fragile child care infrastructure.

“This is a disruption, with potential harmful effects of a system that has served our children well for years,” said Gray. “Sidelining experienced community providers and centralizing services within the school district replaces a nimble, cost-effective network with a more expensive, less accessible model that could harm families, providers and actually impact our local economy.”

Gray expressed concern over the lack of process and community engagement as well as the transparency in the planning process. “The organizations currently providing UPK services are the experts. They work with our children every day. To not include them in this process is a disservice to the families who rely on their care.”

Jefferson County is already in crisis when it comes to child care access—72% of the county is classified as a child care desert. Removing UPK slots from CBOs will further reduce available care, destabilize full-day services, and make it harder for families, especially working parents, to access the support they need.

The shift would also create a long-term financial burden. “Unlike community providers, which operate flexibly, school-based programs institutionalize costs that taxpayers will be responsible for year after year,” Gray explained. “That’s a permanent increase in school budgets, paid for with local taxes.”

In Jefferson County, 77% of parents seeking child care need it for them to stay in the workforce. The loss of full-day, flexible wraparound services will make it nearly impossible for many to participate in the UPK program or maintain employment. This change puts unnecessary strain on working families, especially those with limited transportation or nontraditional work hours.

CBOs deliver early childhood education but also contribute to the local economy. The district’s move could force some providers to shut their doors, raise prices or lose critical staff to the higher-paying school system—resulting in fewer options for parents and long-term staffing challenges in the child care sector.

Moreover, centralizing UPK services at Watertown High School makes the program less accessible to families outside the city’s core. It also eliminates the diversity of care models—such as in-home care, center-based care, and Head Start programs—that currently meet a broad range of family needs.

Assemblyman Gray is urging the Board of Education to pause and reconsider the current plan in favor of a mixed-delivery model that includes both school- and in the first instance utilizing current long established community-based partnerships, saying, “We need to build a plan that preserves community capacity, avoids future taxpayer liabilities and ensures equitable access to care,” Gray said. “That starts with listening to families and providers and building trust through true community participation.”