PORT ANGELES — Free half-day and extended-day kindergarten will be offered next school year, no matter what the School Board decides tonight.
But full-day kindergarten could become an option available only upon demand from parents, most of whom would pay tuition.
Port Angeles Superintendent Gary Cohn will recommend to the School Board at its meeting — which begins at 7 p.m. in the Central Services Building, 216 E. Fourth St. — that it return to non-tuition half-day and extended-day kindergarten at all elementary schools, with full-day kindergarten offered only at a limited number of schools.
Full-day classes — requiring tuition from most parents — would be created upon demand, as indicated by parents registering their children, Cohn said.
“Cohn will recommend the board reconsider its recent decision about full-day kindergarten and return to the extended-day model included in the May 4 Reduced Education Plan for the 2009-10 school year,” the district said in a prepared statement.
Extended-day kindergarten is provided for children who need more training than is provided in the half-day program.
Students are selected by teachers for an afternoon session of kindergarten until their skill development is sufficient to return them to half-day kindergarten.
June 8 vote
The board voted 4-1 on June 8 — with School Board member Lonnie Linn opposed — to offer tuition-based full-day kindergarten.
That overturned an earlier decision to return to half-day, extended-day kindergarten because of state changes in funding.
The district had provided, for the first time, free full-day kindergarten at all schools during the 2008-2009 school year.
But changes in funding allocated by the state Legislature this year, in response to a state deficit, meant that the district would need to come up with about $400,000 to provide free, full-day kindergarten for all schools in the coming school year, Baxter said.
The board discussion June 8 was that limited half-day programs should not be considered.
“To me this is an all-or-nothing thing,” board member Cindy Kelly said then.
“For me, I need to know if we are all committed to this to the point that we’re willing to go into reserves if there is a shortage.”
Since then, Cohn and School Board President Steve Baxter have said that the motion approved by the board June 8 did not exclude half-day kindergarten.
Cohn’s proposal
Cohn’s recommendation to return to the half-day, extended-day model will be presented during the action items portion of tonight’s agenda, which is scheduled to begin at 9:15.
Community comments are scheduled to be heard at 8:10 p.m.
Half-day and extended-day kindergarten would be offered free, but tuition would be charged for all who do not qualify for free lunches for full-day kindergarten.
The full price would be $280 per month. Families who qualify for reduced lunches would pay half that — $140 per month — and those who qualify for free lunches would be charged nothing in Cohn’s plan.
“If enough people want a section, we’ll offer it,” Cohn said.
Classes generally contain no more than 20 students, he said.
The logistics could be difficult, he said, since parents can register children for kindergarten at any time.
“People often don’t sign up until later in the summer,” he said. “We’re going to try to have several different contingency plans.
“Clearly, the sooner people say they want to do it, the better.”
Baxter said Friday that he felt Cohn’s recommendation was a “viable plan.”
“I have some questions about the cost, if we go to that plan, but I expect that Monday night, we’ll probably have a bit more data given to us.”
No other program
Baxter said no other program would be cut to offer the half-day, extended-day program.
The state provides funding for half-day kindergarten.
But, Baxter said, “They don’t pay for the whole cost of anything.
“They fund on their magical formula, how much they fund per student, and they expect us to deliver education on what they give us per student, but it’s not enough.”
The state requires public school districts to provide free half-day kindergarten.
“We’re public education,” Baxter said. “Half-day kindergarten is currently what they require us to provide, although they want us to provide full day kindergarten but aren’t willing to fund that.”
Gov. Chris Gregoire earlier this year signed a measure that redefined basic education.
“All-day kindergarten is in there,” Baxter said, “but there’s no funding now.”
Cohn, who is leaving the district June 30 to become superintendent in Everett, said the district had expected the state to fund full-day kindergarten at three elementary schools, with the district paying for the rest, during the 2009-2010 school year.
Instead, the state Legislature dropped that funding and also cut other funds, Cohn said.
With present funding for half-day classes and funding already budgeted for extended-day classes, the district would not need to move funds from other programs, Cohn said.
Linn has said that he will oppose all-day kindergarten until the state funds it.
Cohn hopes that, in two years, the state will fund full-day kindergarten.
Until then, the district wants to offer a full-day option for those willing to pay, both to keep as many students in the program as possible until state funding is allocated and to offer the service that some parents have said they would find elsewhere if they can’t get it in public schools.
“We’re creating a little bit of a caste system in our public education system, but at the same time, we have families who want the service, so if we can serve all levels and keep it as fair as possible and keep it legal, we’ll do that,” Baxter said.
________
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
