The Bright Beginnings pre-kindergarten program remains in limbo after the school board voted Tuesday to delay plans to cut $10.4 million from the program’s budget.

The board voted 8-1 to wait until the district’s full budget is considered this spring.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman had proposed the cuts to Bright Beginnings as part of a much bigger cost-cutting package. But faced with growing push-back from parents, teachers and child advocates, Gorman on Tuesday asked the board to allow more time for other options to emerge.

Chief Academic Officer Ann Clark said she has talked with advocates about such options as scaling back to a half-day program, a four-day week or a nine-month school year for Bright Beginnings to serve more kids with less money, according to the Charlotte Observer.

CMS currently spends $21 million a year to provide pre-kindergarten for 3,200 4-year-olds. Under Gorman’s previous proposal, about 2,000 of those seats would have been eliminated.

Opponents have argued that cuts to a program that prepares disadvantaged children to enter first grade would be shortsighted and ultimately cost the district more.

County commissioner Vilma Leake, a former school board member, urged the board to reject cuts to Bright Beginnings. She has asked commissioners to approve a special $10 million grant to keep the program at its current level.

Board member Kaye McGarry cast the lone vote opposing a delay.

Faced with expected funding gaps from state and county government, CMS anticipates having to cut its $1.1 billion budget by about $100 million for the 2011-2012 school year.

Read more at CharlotteObserver.com.

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