The Blair Oaks R-2 School District Board of Education voted for its Parents as Teachers Coordinator to be the regional coordinator for an early childhood education hub.
Missouri has named 30 early childhood education hubs, funded through a $6.5 million federal grant the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received in 2019. The goal of these hubs is to improve funding and access for early childhood education.
Blair Oaks Parents as Teachers Coordinator Shauna Kerperin will be the coordinator at the regional hub that includes Cole, Moniteau, Osage and Miller counties.
The intention of these hubs is to be a collaborative group that collects data, information and resources from multiple locations to eventually determine the needs and how to provide more access to strong early childhood programs. Kerperin will oversee those doing outreach work.
For the first six months, Kerperin will gather information from different districts on what resources and early childhood programs are available.
"The intention is, after we do a lot of collaboration and a lot of networking and coordination of different programs, we'll have a nice resource bank that we'll be able to go to for early childhood in Missouri within each hub," Kerperin said. "You'll be able to call that hub, or parents will be able to come in and connect with our hub."
Blair Oaks will be the financial agent for the money that goes to the hub.
"The money is all coming from the state," Superintendent Jim Jones said. "Ultimately, part of Shauna's salary will be compensated through some of the money, so there is no financial obligation on our end. She's just operating as the leader."
Kerperin said this will benefit Blair Oaks because it will create more opportunities to collaborate with other districts and agencies, and provide early childhood programs in the district.
"I think this will work really nice for us to have these resources and connections," she said.