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Article published: Mar 5, 2006
First Steps renewal pleases educators

Locally, officials are glad that Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill Monday reauthorizing First Steps to School Readiness until 2013.

The First Steps program, which began in South Carolina in 1999 and made its way to Sumter County in 2002, is designed to help students prepare for the first grade.

It began via the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Act, passed by the state General Assembly in 1999. The act initially authorized the program to exist through July 2007. Sanford’s reauthorization extends the program’s life until 2013.

Julia Nelson, executive director of the Sumter County First Steps Partnership, said she’s glad to see the governor and local legislators acknowledging the success of First Steps.

“I think it’s a marvelous opportunity for us to continue helping children get ready for school,” Nelson said.

First Steps has several avenues to help prepare students for school, including the Parents as Teachers initiative, scholarships to early child care facilities and family literacy efforts.

For Parents as Teachers, First Steps works in coordination with local school districts. Sumter School District 2 Parenting and Family Literacy and Early Childhood Coordinator Libby DuBose said Parents as Teachers is designed to help at-risk families — ones in poverty, first-time parents and teen parents — better help their children prepare for school.

“They have been really supportive of our parenting and family literacy initiatives through the Parents as Teachers program,” DuBose said.

“With them being reauthorized, that really ... tells us it’s making a difference,” she said.

Virginia Brown, director of instruction for statewide assessment and family involvement for Sumter School District 17, said she was also pleased to learn of the reauthorization.

“I’m really impressed that it has been reauthorized because ... I know it has benefited our district greatly,” Brown said. She said she thinks students whose families have gone through Parents as Teachers have been more prepared for school than they would have been otherwise.

Nelson said aside from the programs geared to help families prepare children for school, awarding scholarships to child care facilities is another significant undertaking of First Steps.

Since 2002, the program has awarded 261 one-year scholarships to families for their children to attend a child care facility.

Nelson said she’s excited about the continuation of First Steps and especially grateful for the backing of local legislators.

“I can’t say enough about their ongoing support,” she said. “First Steps continues to work to increase (the) school readiness outcome.”

Contact Staff Writer Mary Dolan at mdolan@theitem.com or 803-774-1294.