For many California congregations, the relationship between transitional kindergarten and church preschools has quietly become a budget question. The preschool down the hall, whether your church runs it or leases classroom space to it, has helped keep the lights on for years. So when a free, state-funded program begins enrolling every four-year-old in California, it is worth understanding exactly what is changing, because the churches that see it early can plan around it instead of being surprised by it.
How California’s Free Transitional Kindergarten Works
Transitional kindergarten, or TK, is a free year of public school for four-year-olds, offered through local K–12 districts. It grew out of Assembly Bill 130, California’s Universal Prekindergarten initiative, which the Legislature passed in 2021. Beginning in 2022, the state expanded TK eligibility a little each year, and by the 2025–26 school year every California four-year-old is eligible, regardless of family income.
Because it is part of the public school system, TK is free to families. That single fact, a no-cost option for the exact age group most private preschools depend on, is what makes the expansion matter to churches. A family weighing a tuition-based church preschool against a free public classroom faces a choice that simply did not exist a few years ago.
Transitional Kindergarten and Church Preschools Now Draw From the Same Families
The scale of the change is significant. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, TK enrollment roughly doubled in just two years, serving more than 150,000 students statewide in 2023–24 out of an estimated 215,000 eligible children. That is the largest TK class the state has ever had.
Every one of those children is a four-year-old, the heart of the market church preschools have served for generations. That is the plain reality behind the numbers: transitional kindergarten and church preschools now draw from the same small pool of families, and the public option carries no tuition.
The Enrollment Pressure Is Real, but Not Total
It would be a mistake to read those figures as the end of church preschools, and the data does not support that conclusion. Even at record enrollment, TK’s take-up rate was only about 70 percent of eligible children in 2023–24, down from an 83 percent peak before the expansion. Roughly three in ten eligible families still chose something other than public TK.
At the same time, the effect on other programs is documented, not hypothetical. In its 2024–25 implementation report, the Learning Policy Institute found that school districts are reporting lower enrollment and staffing challenges at community-based preschool programs outside of TK. For a church program running on thin margins, even a modest enrollment dip can turn a self-sustaining preschool into one that needs a subsidy.
Where Church Preschools Still Hold an Advantage
Understanding transitional kindergarten and church preschools together means seeing clearly what TK does not offer. Public TK serves four-year-olds on a school-year, school-day calendar. It generally does not cover infants and toddlers, it does not run through the summer, and it rarely provides the full-day, wraparound care that working parents need.
Church programs can lean into exactly those gaps. Care for children under four, full-day and year-round schedules, and faith-based formation are all things a public classroom cannot provide. Many congregations are finding that the strongest path forward is not to compete with TK head-on for four-year-olds, but to reposition around the younger ages and the extended-care needs that TK leaves open.
What This Means for Your Church’s Finances and Property
For a church, a preschool is rarely only an educational ministry; it is often a financial one. If the program pays rent to the church, or if the church runs it as a source of revenue, falling enrollment reaches the church’s own budget. A preschool that once covered a mortgage payment or a share of the utilities may no longer do so.
That is where this issue connects to larger decisions. When a steady source of income softens, some congregations begin reevaluating whether their building still fits their needs and their finances. If that is the conversation your board is starting to have, our guides on when a church should sell its property and selling church property in California walk through how to think it through carefully.
Planning Around the Shift
None of this means a church preschool is doomed, but it does mean the ground has moved. The congregations that fare best are the ones that look honestly at how transitional kindergarten and church preschools now fit together in their community, adjust their program toward the ages and services TK does not cover, and account for the change in their budgeting before it becomes a shortfall. Seeing the shift clearly is the first step to planning around it.
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Disclaimer: Every situation is different and particular facts may vary thereby changing or altering a possible course of action or conclusion. The information contained herein is intended to be general in nature as laws vary between federal, state, counties, and municipalities and therefore may not apply to any given matter. This information is not intended to be legal advice or relied upon as a legal opinion, course of action, accounting, tax or other professional service. You should consult the proper legal or professional advisor knowledgeable in the area that pertains to your particular situation.
