As the new school year begins, parents of young children in Rio Rico will be without one option to prepare their kids for kindergarten. The preschool program at Calabasas School is being phased out, at least for this year, widening the gap between demand and availability of early childhood education in a region that is already considered a “desert” for it.

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District had been the only district in the county to offer a preschool program on site at a school, Superintendent David Verdugo said in an interview Monday. But with key grants expiring, he said the district could not justify the investment going forward. ×

This page requires Javascript.

Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. k

See Full Page