Construction is taking place on the campus of Sam Vaughn Elementary School which will be a new wing for transitional kindergarten and autistic students.

Ceres Unified School District broke ground on the project last summer but the buildings, which are still in the framing stage, are supposed to be completed before the start of the 2025-26 school year in August.

“We had some portables we had to relocate to the other area of blacktop,” said CUSD Supt. Amy Peterman.

CUSD received some matching funds from the state to replace portables that have aged rapidly, she said. The buildings will accommodate the expected influx of transitional kindergarten (TK) students since the state has expanded eligibility requirements by lowering the age requirement for children to enroll in TK.

“For the last few years they’ve been adding a couple of months of eligibility so students with birthdays closer and closer to age four are now eligible for transitional kindergarten,” said Peterman. “So this year they’re adding the final two months so now every four-year-old will be eligible.”

Next year the state will also require more teachers in T-K classrooms, from one adult per every 12 students to one adult per 10 students.

She said CUSD is expanding TK at a number of elementary school sites but the only construction project currently is at Sam Vaughn.

“With our TK classes expanding, we’re gonna be able to have all of our students’ classrooms have bathrooms.”

By offering free, high-quality transitional kindergarten in public schools, California will go a long way to help level the playing field for children entering kindergarten, officials say.

The plan is costing $2.7 billion across the nearly 900 districts in the state that include elementary grades. It will be the largest universal prekindergarten program in the country.