At Sanchez Elementary in Lafayette, two classes of preschoolers hum with routine. Children gather on rugs, trade stories about favorite foods, and practice the rhythms of a school day that, for many, would not be possible without outside financial support.
Nearly half of the preschoolers there are enrolled only because Impact on Education, a nonprofit partner of the Boulder Valley School District, has stepped in to pay their tuition. The nonprofit intervened after Boulder County abruptly froze its primary childcare aid program, leaving families who relied on it without a clear way to afford full-time preschool.
The program, the county’s Child Care Assistance Program, or CCAP, stopped taking new families in March 2024. County officials cited rising childcare costs and the loss of federal support, saying the program could no longer sustain additional enrollment.
CCAP has long been Boulder County’s main support system for low-income families seeking help with preschool and childcare costs. It pays most tuition directly to providers while families contribute a small sliding-scale copay. Eligibility extends to families with children up to 12 years old earning up to 270% of the federal poverty level. About 1,800 Boulder County families received CCAP support last year, roughly half of those who qualify.
For BVSD families, the timing could not have been worse. Parents enrolling children for fall 2024 who didn’t qualify for full-time Universal Preschool (UPK) funding had been told CCAP would help cover tuition. Then the county’s intake froze. Overnight, that promise evaporated.
Universal Preschool, Colorado’s flagship program, provides 15 free hours a week, or 30 if additional qualifications are met. But that is far short of what most working households need. For years, CCAP functioned as the bridge, covering the remaining tuition so children could attend full-day programs. When CCAP closed to new families and Universal Preschool could not make up the difference, many parents suddenly faced a stark set of choices: Pay thousands out of pocket, find cheaper care, or step back from work.
Theresa Clements, BVSD’s director of early childhood education, knew a crisis was beginning for many families. She called Allison Billings, the executive director of Impact on Education. Billings immediately began raising money to cover the gap.
In the first year, the nonprofit funded 11 waivers, mostly for single moms who had no other way to keep their children enrolled. By 2025, with CCAP still frozen and demand growing, Impact on Education raised nearly $500,000 and funded 55 waivers — enough to cover every income-qualified family that applied.
Full-time preschool tuition at BVSD this year is about $1,350 a month. It is not the cheapest option in the area, Clements said, but it is not the most expensive either. Still, costs continue to rise, and full-time tuition is set to reach almost $1,500 next school year.
The district’s preschool budget last year totaled more than $17 million, nearly half transferred from the general fund, which is funded mostly by local taxes. About $2 million came from tuition revenue. The district spent almost all of it and enrolled about 1,000 preschoolers, putting per-pupil spending at around $16,000.
Without CCAP support, the math no longer works for hundreds of families seeking licensed, full-time care.
Childcare is often one of the largest expenses for families with young children. When the cost climbs beyond reach, parents face choices that can shape children’s education before kindergarten even begins. Some leave the workforce because childcare would swallow their paycheck. Others turn to cheaper, sometimes unlicensed care.
“There’s lots of great literature about the impact of a quality early childhood experience on the kids’ success and the family’s success,” Billings said. “I mean, there’s a mountain of literature.”
But Billings said it should not fall to her nonprofit to fund something so essential. The need is enormous, she said, and the organization cannot sustain this level of support indefinitely.
Preschool at BVSD is a patchwork
BVSD’s preschool system has long been a patchwork of half-day programs, with limited options for a full-day care.
The district runs 24 half-day preschool programs, each offering three hours of instruction. Fourteen sites offer an “enrichment” block that extends the day to 2:50 p.m., but that portion is staffed by a paraeducator rather than a licensed early childhood teacher. Only one site — Alicia Sanchez Elementary — offers a full-day model led entirely by licensed educators, though that program ends early, at 1:50 p.m.
The district chose Sanchez for its top-tier full-day program because of the level of need in that area. Sanchez is a Title 1 school in Lafayette where 78% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is not dual language, but 68% of students are Hispanic. For some preschoolers, it is their first sustained exposure to English, giving them a useful ramp-up to kindergarten.
“We 100% encourage our families to keep their home language,” said Becky McKay, the principal at Sanchez. “But families did mention that this was an opportunity for their students to hear that English. And so they’re becoming bilingual, you know, in preschool.”
During a recent visit, the classrooms felt calm and well run, with multiple adults supporting students. Teachers and paraeducators worked alongside specialists, including staff supporting students with IEPs, a substitute offering extra help that day, and speech pathologists who stepped in and out.
In one class, students gathered on the rug and were asked to stand up to share their favorite type of bread. “Hamburger,” said one child, before a gentle correction that perhaps he meant “bun.” Another proudly offered “tortilla.” The students plopped back down to energetic applause.
The need is overwhelming
At Sanchez, nearly half the preschoolers are attending on tuition waivers funded by Impact on Education, a sign of how critical those stopgap dollars have become.
The full-day program launched only last year, and demand is high. BVSD has four Title 1 elementary schools, all with preschool programs, yet Sanchez remains the only site with a full-day instructional model fully staffed by licensed educators.
Meanwhile, CCAP has been closed to new families for almost two years, and county officials say it may be several more before intake reopens. Even then, Clements said, CCAP won’t help all the families in need.
“Even if CCAP comes back and they can open up the waitlist, that is for families who are 270% of poverty,” she said. “We have a whole group of families who … may not qualify for CCAP, but they still may not be able to afford early care and learning.”
Billings said she is hopeful state and local policymakers will do the right thing and prioritize early childhood education when funding decisions have to be made. But for now, they’re focused on responding to short-term needs.
“Right now, we are focused on raising the funds to provide income-qualified families with the support they need so that their kids can access an excellent early childhood education,” Billings said. “We know that will have lasting impacts on them and on our community.”