preschool

Schoolchildren in the town were told to commute in a group or use school buses, while nursery school preschool children refrained from playing outside.

“My preschool had these communal restrooms — just five toilets lined up ... no barriers, no doors. It was like a Roman bathhouse,” the performer said, drawing a laugh from one woman in the second row.

The address enabled Luna’s hard-won spot in a subsidized preschool program, the family’s public benefits, access to Newman’s medical specialists and the elusive form of state health insurance — “straight Medi-Cal” — she needs for a transplant.

McDonough hopes to avoid prescriptions for as long as possible for his younger son, who is starting to do well and make friends at a special-education, small preschool.

Mary Matteucci, director of A Child’s Garden in Albuquerque, said salaries and benefits already account for 90% of the preschool’s expenses.