(This article, reprinted with permission and featuring all-day kindergarten implementation in the Bexley schools, appeared in Bexley News on November 25, 2009) 12/20/09

Administrators favor moving on with all-day kindergarten

Although there is the possibility of legislation postponing the requirement to implement a full-day program, district leaders recommend planning for the next year.

Bexley City Schools Superintendent Michael Johnson and other members of the administration think the time is now when it comes to all-day kindergarten -- it should be implemented effective with the 2010-2011 school year.

Johnson addressed the issue at the Bexley Board of Education meeting on Monday, Nov. 16.

"I feel justified in making the recommendation to implement given this current law, and the fact that the our community has deliberated on this particular subject three times in the last decade and a half," Johnson said.

All-day kindergarten was one of the mandates Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland put in his budget earlier this year.

As the situation currently stands, all Ohio schools are required to introduce an all-day program by the 2010-2011 school year. But that doesn't mean it will be in every system, as some schools can ask for a waiver to start a year later due to space concerns. Some districts don't have enough space to host all of their students for a full day, which could lead to building of additional facilities.

Another factor is that legislation has been introduced to delay the required implementation of all-day kindergarten for a year for all Ohio schools.

But all-day kindergarten has been a topic of discussion in Bexley for a long time. In March 2007, the school board turned down a resolution to start an all-day kindergarten program in the district. A big concern at the time was the program's cost.

The cost is still on the school district as it will not receive any funds to start or maintain the program even though it has been made a requirement.

Pursuing a waiver is not something the district is considering.

"We would not honestly be able to ask for a waivers because we have been able to identify facilities, and that would be the leverage point in which to delay," Johnson said.

Bexley doesn't have to worry about that. All three elementary school principals have identified space to hold all-day kindergarten programming, said Anne Hyland, the district's director of curriculum and instruction.

Johnson said board policy requires administration to present to the school board in December any modifications or additions to the district's curriculum.

The school board would then need to approve the curriculum relating to the all-day kindergarten program in December.

Johnson later said the district has adopted the state's curriculum in the past, and will do the same with the full-day program curriculum.

In January, Johnson is required to present the projections for student enrollment in the district, as well as what it is expected to be for full-day kindergarten.

He must then submit any request for additional staff in February for the board's approval.

The district will need three more teachers in order to have enough staff for the program, Johnson said later. That will cost the district anywhere between $210,000 and $240,000, which includes salary and benefits, as well as any materials the teachers may need.

If the legislation to delay the start for all Ohio schools passes, Johnson said the school board is in the position to implement the program a year early or not.

"The question for our district is that if that legislation passes, do we want to wait an additional year before we implement? Otherwise, the law as it currently stands mandates us to move forward in the fall of the coming year," said Andrew Sutter, school board president.

If a parent wanted their child to only attend kindergarten half of the day, Hyland said they have the right to make that decision.

Johnson said it would be too costly to have a distinct half-day kindergarten program running alongside a full-day program, and that if parents only wanted their child in a half-day program, the district would let them know what their child missed in the other half of the program. The parent would be then responsible for their child learning the information to keep up.

 

Back to School News