Cuyahoga County lists 65 Universal Pre-K sites; most municipalities with UPK have only one or two

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County currently lists 65 Universal Pre-K locations across 21 municipalities, but access is concentrated: Cleveland has 27, while 15 of the 21 municipalities with a site have only one or two.That geography matters as county officials warn the program could shrink sharply if voters reject a Health and Human Services levy renewal and increase on the Nov. 3 ballot and no other revenue source is found.An official Cuyahoga County presentation reviewed by cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer projects Universal Pre-K capacity falling from 3,988 seats in 2026 to 950 in 2027 without additional revenue. Capacity would then fall to 300 seats in 2028 and remain there in 2029. The county says private funding would temporarily cushion the reduction but run out by mid-2027.The county has not publicly identified which locations would remain. Available records show where families have the most — and fewest — UPK options now, but not which individual preschools or municipalities would lose service.Where UPK is availableThe county’s Universal Pre-K provider list, updated Aug. 13, includes child care centers, Head Start programs, public-school preschools and family child care homes.A cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer count found Cleveland has 27 locations, followed by Euclid with five and Cleveland Heights with four. Brooklyn, Lakewood and Shaker Heights have three each. Beachwood, Bedford, Berea, Maple Heights and Parma have two each.Ten municipalities have one location apiece: Brook Park, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Highland Heights, Mayfield Village, Middleburg Heights, North Olmsted, South Euclid, University Heights and Warrensville Heights.Cleveland accounts for about 42% of the 65 locations on the county roster.But a nearby location is not necessarily available to every family. Ten of the 65 are public-school preschool programs restricted to residents of particular school districts, including three Cleveland Heights-University Heights sites and programs for residents of the Shaker Heights, Bedford, Warrensville Heights, Brooklyn and Berea school districts.The county says families may choose a participating preschool near home or work, but those restrictions can narrow their options.The county’s public UPK materials reviewed for this story do not break current enrollment down by municipality, ZIP code or individual site or provide a current countywide waiting-list total. The provider list therefore shows where the program operates, not where the greatest numbers of participating children live.About 1 in 4 participating children received a scholarshipUniversal Pre-K is more than tuition assistance. The county also provides money to participating preschools for program-quality improvements.Under current county rules, Cuyahoga County families with children ages 3 to 5 may receive a scholarship covering 50% of tuition if household income is no more than 400% of the federal poverty level.The 2026 federal poverty guideline is $33,000 for a family of four, putting the UPK income ceiling for a four-person household at $132,000.Because the scholarship covers a percentage of tuition rather than a flat amount, savings vary by provider. Public county materials do not list a standard maximum scholarship. Families apply through participating preschools by asking for the “UPK tuition scholarship” during enrollment.During the 2024-25 school year, about 1,100 children received scholarships, according to previous cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer reporting. That was roughly one-quarter of the nearly 4,000 children participating in UPK.Roughly 2,900 participating children were not counted among scholarship recipients, though they attended sites benefiting from county support. The county’s public figures count children, not households, so they do not establish how many individual families use the program.What the levy could changeCuyahoga County spends roughly $8.8 million a year on UPK, according to previous cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer reporting based on county figures. About half funds program-quality improvements and about half funds tuition scholarships, Invest in Children Director Shawna Rohrman said.The program was already scheduled for a smaller reduction before officials developed the levy-failure scenario. During 2026-27 budget hearings, the Office of Early Childhood identified an $839,000 annual reduction to UPK contracts.The later contingency projection is far larger: 950 seats in 2027 and 300 in 2028 and 2029. HHS Director David Merriman has said that at the lowest level, the county could afford scholarships for only about 100 children.The threatened reduction is part of a broader HHS funding problem. County leaders say rising child-welfare costs, growing demand and reductions in federal funding have eaten away at reserves.The ballot measure would renew an existing 4.7-mill HHS levy and add 2.5 mills. The county estimates the increase would generate about $110.8 million annually for a broad range of health and human services, not UPK alone. It would cost a homeowner about $87.50 more annually per $100,000 of property value.County officials say the additional revenue would allow them to avoid the severe reductions now being modeled.If the levy fails, however, the county has not publicly identified how the remaining UPK seats would be distributed or whether municipalities that now have only one participating location would be left without one.Families can find participating programs through the county’s current provider list and map or by calling Starting Point at 216-575-0061.The levy will be decided Nov. 3. The voter-registration deadline is Oct. 5, and early in-person and absentee voting begins Oct. 6.