Editor,

I was pleased to read in a recent edition of the Journal Tribune that the Sanford School Department is expanding its Pre-Kindergarten program to enroll twice the number of students in the upcoming school year. There are a variety of benefits to high quality early childhood education programs like Pre-K. From my perspective in law enforcement, these programs are a valuable tool to help reduce future crime, and can have a great impact especially for at-risk kids.

Early childhood learning programs help kids gain the social, emotional and learning skills they need to succeed in school and life. When we reach kids early in their lives with programs like Pre-K that help them build the skills that form a solid foundation for their learning, they are more likely to do better throughout the education pipeline, stay in school, graduate from high school on time, and not choose a life of crime.

The evidence is clear. A long-term study of a pre-school program in Chicago found that kids who did not participate in the program were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by the time they were 18-years-old, and 24 percent more likely to have served time in jail as young adults.

I applaud the Sanford School Department for their efforts to expand participation in these important, high-quality Pre-K programs, and I am encouraged by their goal to further grow the programs in the coming years. Our kids will benefit, as will our communities.

William King

York County Sheriff