San Antonio Standard

A San Antonio nonprofit organization has teamed up with several public school districts to offer pre-kindergarten programs at no charge to families, per reports from San Antonio-based media outlets. 

Early Matters San Antonio hopes its partnerships address increasing childcare costs.

San Antonio FOX affiliate KABB reported that the organization said in a statement it’s well-aware how many families in the Alamo City don’t have affordable, high-quality preschool education available to them.

"We are excited to partner with these school districts and community partners to help ensure that families are aware of their options for high-quality pre-K at no cost to them, for those that qualify,” Early Matters head Mark Larson said in the statement. "By working together, we can help ensure that all children in our community have the foundation they need to succeed in school and beyond."

Per the station, eight districts have partnered with the nonprofit, namely Alamo Heights Independent School District (AHISD), Northside Independent School District (NISD), East Central Independent School District (ECISD), Edgewood Independent School District (EISD), San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), South San Antonio Independent School District (SSAISD), Harlandale Independent School District (HISD) and Southwest Independent School District (SWISD).

Larson told San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI that childcare isn’t immune from ongoing inflation. 

"We know that a lot of families have someone staying at home because they maybe can't afford to pay for childcare in another way," he said in the report. "For a lot of families that can very quickly place it out of reach for them."

KABB reported that the programs, which are available in English and Spanish, provide breakfast, lunch and school supplies, as well as offer full and half-day options.

Sarah Baray, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pre-K 4 SA, said that even if some families don’t qualify for the programs, they can still seek out a program that suits them, WOAI reported.

"Some districts also offer options for tuition, families that don't qualify and that just varies by district," Baray told WOAI.