Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Coxsackie-Athens School District is now able to offer a new and expanded pre-kindergarten program during the new year, in large part due to a $360,000 state grant received before the recent holiday break. A total of 31 school districts statewide will receive $13.4 million in funding as part of a New York State Education Department initiative, but Coxsackie-Athens is the only district in Greene County to receive the pre-K grant during this round of state funding. The money will make it possible for the district to open two pre-K sections in 2022 to accommodate 36 students. “We’ve never had pre-K in the district and I think we’re the only district in Greene County without it,” Coxsackie-Athens Superintendent Randall Squier said. “They had never applied for pre-K previously to me and this is my 11th year. So when we were eligible to apply this year, we received a base grant from the state in the current year’s budget. Then the competitive grant opened up as well, which we applied for over the summer, and we officially received word right before the holidays that we were also given the competitive grant for $360,000. So combined, that will allow us to fund most of the pre-K program with the grants,” he said. Squier said the funds are an annual grant and the district will receive it as long as there is a need for it. The pre-K program will be housed in the Edward J. Arthur Elementary School in Athens. The superintendent noted that students from Coxsackie will be bused to the school for the full-day program. To be eligible for the program, children must live in the district and have turned 4 on or before December 1 and there is still time to apply for the program before it begins. “We’re accepting applications currently,” Squier said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.