Upper Cumberland Counties Get Pre-K Grants

The state Department of Education awarded voluntary pre-K grants recently.

The grants target four-year-old students from low-income families. Nearly $6 million was distributed to Upper Cumberland counties.

Putnam County received more than $1.5 million to help fund 18 pre-K classrooms.

Jill Ramsey is supervisor of instruction for pre-K through fifth grade. She said the grant helps, but doesn’t completely fund the pre-K program.

“Well, we supplement, we match funds at the district level, it’s not fully funded by the state because we believe that early intervention is absolutely necessary and that the sooner we work with kids the more prepared they’ll be for school,” Ramsey said.

There’s a pre-K program in all Putnam County elementary schools except Algood, which doesn’t have the space, Ramsey said.

“If you’ve got a 4-year-old that is not going to be school ready next year, please put in an application for preK. You can do that at any of the elementary schools or come by the central office and get an application, there’s also applications at the health department and local pediatric offices,” Ramsey said.

Cumberland County received just over $1 million for 12 pre-K classrooms.

DeKalb County received $486,000 for five classrooms.

Fentress County received $756,000 for six classrooms.

Jackson County received $315,000 for three classrooms.

Overton County received $519,000 for five classrooms.

Pickett County received $103,000 for one classroom.

Van Buren County received $195,000 for two classrooms.

Warren County received $694,000 for seven classrooms.

White County received $408,000 for four classrooms.