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District may convert to full-day programs at all grade schools The Del Norte County Unified School District Board will consider implementing full-day kindergarten classes at all local elementary schools Thursday. Longer kindergarten classes could possibly save the school district money by eliminating a bus route specifically for kindergartners who get out earlier than older kids. However, some people feel that kindergartners aren’t mature enough to be in class as long as the older grades. If approved by the school board, Joe Hamilton, Mary Peacock, Mountain, Redwood and Smith River Elementary Schools would offer full-day kindergarten classes. Several elementary schools already have this, said Superintendent Jan Moorehouse, and Margaret Keating Elementary in Klamath has already decided to extend its kindergarten class.
“A couple of the school sites have moved to that and they like it,” she said.
Making the change for all elementary schools would also create equity between the schools, she said. Half-day kindergarten classes have typically been just over four hours long. The longer classes would be about six hours with a lunch break and recesses. For example, Pine Grove Elementary’s full-day kindergarten class starts at 8:20 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m. According to state law, parents do not have to enroll their children in kindergarten, but most in Del Norte do, Moorehouse said. Parents can also pick up their children after only half a day if they’re in a full-day class, she added. “It’s not mandatory,” she said about kindergarten. “What’s surprising is that they like (the longer classes).” The school district has been looking at cutting down on busing to save money on employee salaries, fuel and maintenance on buses. If kindergartners are let out at the same time as the older kids, that would eliminate a bus route and reduce the need to have monitors watching those kids while they wait for the bus. More parents and school districts are gravitating toward full-day kindergarten — about 70 percent of districts statewide offer it, Moorehouse said. However, not everyone is in favor of longer class time for kindergartners, she added. “The people who have been most active against it have been teachers,” Moorehouse said, adding some instructors consider kindergarten-age students “too young to be in school for that long of time.” Moorehouse added that those teachers already instructing full-day kindergarten classes “appear to be happy with it.” Kindergarten teachers work the same hours as other elementary teachers. Those who teach a half-day class use the rest of their time for one-on-one instruction with students who need extra help, Moorehouse said. “There’s an advantage to having those teachers available,” she said. Then again, more instructional time for kindergartners could mean more students who are better prepared for first grade and therefore fewer students who need intervention later on, Moorehouse said. “Test scores are showing a plateau,” she said about younger grades, adding that more instruction at a younger age could help improve test scores. The school district could save thousands of dollars by reducing busing for kindergartners. The district could save even more money by implementing one dismissal time for all grades at all schools. Moorehouse said that the district is still analyzing if this would work. With past and future state cuts in mind, the School Board is expected to pass a budget for the 2009-2010 school year on Thursday. One-time funds, such as federal stimulus money, will get the school district through the coming year, Moorehouse said. However, by the 2010-2011 school year, she said that the district will have to trim about $2.5 million from its spending. The district is still looking at ways to reduce spending for the upcoming school year if the state legislature cuts funding even more than expected. “We don’t know what the state budget will be,” Moorehouse said. “We’re standing by with other options.” |