Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock announced this morning the extension of financial help through the summer months to families of four-year-olds who participate in the Denver Preschool Program.

While the program, known as DPP, has been around since Denver voters approved a sales tax ballot initiative in 2006, it hasn’t always included funding for summer preschool classes. Such funding was available in 2008 and 2009, but sales tax revenues fell during the recession and summer tuition support was discontinued, said the program’s CEO Jennifer Landrum. That’s changing this year because voters approved an extension and expansion of the tax last November.

DPP provides preschool tuition credits to four-year-olds in Denver, with a tiered scale that means low-income families and those whose children attend highly-rated preschools get more assistance and higher-income families and those whose children attend lower-rated preschools get less.

The new summertime help from DPP will be available only at community-based preschool sites, not Denver Public Schools sites, which are closed during the summer. Families that get DPP tuition help during the school year for district-based preschool will have the option to receive summer tuition help if they enroll their child in a community-based program.

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