92% Students in NY Attend Full-Day Kindergarten

[Chris_Wendt]

I am personally NOT an advocate of Full-Day Kindergarten, but that point of view came more from my being protective of Wantagh's school budget rather than any more intellectual reasoning.

Wantagh did spend the money to build the classrooms that could someday house Full-Day Kindergarten at each elementary school in a prior bond project. We have the space and we probably have the furniture.

As of January 5, 2010, 96% of school districts across NY State offer Full-Day Kindergarten, with fully 92% of Kindergarten students in the state attending Full-Day Kindergarten during the 2008-09 school year.

There is, once again, legislation pending to mandate Full-Day Kindergarten.

www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2010Meetings/January2010/0110emscd1.htm

I think it is high time that the Wantagh community engage the School District to discuss the time line for implementing Full-Day Kindergarten, along with the costs for teachers, books and supplies.

Of course, the cost for implementing Full-Day Kindergarten needs to be added to THE LIST of current and future spending initiatives facing the district alongside the demands of the Teachers Union for higher salaries. THE LIST of spending then needs to be prioritized after open discussion.

What MUST NOT happen would be for the District to negotiate a new, expensive teacher contract in a vacuum...

...and then tell parents they do not have enough money for Full-Day Kindergarten because of this looming "contractual" expense to enrich the teacher salary schedule.

Wantagh stands in the clear minority in the state on this issue. The time is at hand to address this, to set a plan in place, before we give away all of our money to the teachers union.

What do YOU think?

Chris Wendt

[sadpharmd]

Totally agree. I'm one of those parents who has a child heading into K in 11. My wife and I both work (who can afford not to?), and its an additional burden to us both, which includes a changing of our work schedules (threatening employment), additional costs for nannys, etc.. When you consider the amount of $ we spend it school taxes, and how most households have young working mothers; for this not to be available, is a misallocation of resources to say the least.

[Chris_Wendt]

I think 2011-12 is the year to implement Full-day K, next September.

Yeah, call me crazy, but, when will the time be correct to do what 92% of the school districts in the state have already found the resolve and the resources to to? Never, it seems, if we leave it up to the Administration.

We sunk a load good taxpayer dollars into building extra classrooms which were justified, in part, as providing space for Full-day K once the elementary population bubble moved on. Well, the bubble is about completely moved out, certainly it has in K-2 grades.

Today, Wantagh parents are afraid of the eventuality of closing Mandalay, and teachers are hoping not to get furloughed, while the Governor is chiding the school board about hoarding money in "reserve", while the school board has already raised the specter of implementing some version of the Princeton Plan in Wantagh.

Here's one approach to Full-day K:

• Consolidate all K-1 students in a single building
  
• Establish several Full-day K sections, about 1/2 the K students
  
• Retain several Half-day K sections (the other half of K students)
  
• Reinstate one section of a "DPC"-like program, but include the option to advance K students up to First Grade early, as well as to retain First Graders who are not deemed ready for Second Grade.
  
• Kids who are too young to join K in September could join K in January, as some older and more mature K students moved up to First Grade in January.

Look, we know that we are going to have to bite the bullet this year, so we may as well take this opportunity to qualify for whatever Full-day K Aid is available, now, along with a small quotient of additional pain, while the taking of pain is in fashion.

Oh, and make additional offsetting cuts in non-teaching areas, you know, while making cuts in non-teaching areas is in fashion.

I hate seeing good taxpayer money going to waste, as much as I dislike having promises go unfulfilled.

Thinking...

What do you think?

Chris Wendt

[sadpharmd]

Chris,

I'll support you here. And your idea seems more than reasonable. In all honestly, I'll support ANY approach or option that provides us young parents and our youngest of students the FULL day of school they deserve. Is this really serving Wantagh well? Is this the best way to introduce young parents into the Wantagh school system? Not the greatest of first impressions if you ask me; not at these prices, and not when 92% of NY is providing this. Call me crazy too, but I believe this needs to be a high priority for the BOE/BAC discussions.

Steve

[Chris_Wendt]

Steve,

You have seen how there is influence and the power of persuasion when numbers of people get behind an issue with singular purpose speaking as one voice on a clear message.

Perhaps you know a number of people, other families, with personal interest in having Full-day K implemented. Start talking this up and see what the level of interest and support really is at this time.

There will be upcoming discussions and study of how to wrest savings out of a variety of possible enrollment scenarios, which is where any Full-day K discussion will be most appropriate, short of a referendum on the issue.

As I said, talk it up and gauge the level interest, support, willingness and committment among the stakeholders for this issue.

Chris Wendt

[sadpharmd]

Great idea. Will do.

[lilly]

I would be in favor of it. Is the aid for establishing full-day K a one-shot or does it extend over a few years?

Whatever old research about full vs. 1/2 day benefits is around no longer applies. A few years ago "3rd is the new 4th" was the saying. With the state NCLB tests, the bar was raised "2nd is the new 3rd", and so on. Recently, a Beech teacher told me I prob wouldn't recognize the K or 1st grade curriculum anymore, a decade after my kids were that age. We're not doing our kids any favor by not providing it.

A neighbor of mine, new to the neighborhood with 3 young kids, called me to ask why we don't have full day K. She noted that for two of her kids she wasn't concerned about potential negative effects of only 1/2 day. But her 3rd she thinks is a kid who could really benefit from full day and needs it. I thought to myself that Wantagh actually contradicts all the emphasis that early intervention (updated sp ed regs and RtI) is key. She too, like sadpharmd and myself a decade ago, is shocked that at our high taxes, we remain in an 8% minority.

No full-day K underscores Wantagh's lack of emphasis on academics as the #1 priority. This is the same district who 1) mortgaged a sportplex while the schools were dealing with inoperable decade+ old technology 2) prioritized elementary intramural sports over maintaining college prep program for our arts kids - lololol and 3) remains behind other Nassau districts in planning/budgeting for RtI implementation. It just blows my mind.

I would kindly suggest that all early elem parents get highly involved, and I don't mean just PTA. I know it is tough (BTDT), working parents then the young kids need lots of time, attention and physical labor in the early evening hours with dinner, baths, homework, packing lunches, rendering most working parents exhausted by 8 pm. But, you need to be involved now as opposed to being surprised later on.

[Chris_Wendt]

I have not been able to find the current reg on Full-day K aid. It used to be a multi-year aid. Not sure if it still is.

I did find out a couple of things on the SED website.

1. It is not clear that any district starting Full-day K in 2011-12 would get any aid, because the aid seems to be frozen at this year's level, which for Wantagh would be zero. Again, I am not sure if the aid freeze precludes Wantagh from participating or not. The aid ratio seems to have been fairly generous at 40%.

2. To qualify for the aid, a district must offer Full-day K only, no half-day K. Typically stupid bureaucracy. You can still have partial Full-day K and partial Half-day K, but you would not qualify for the aid.

If there is no aid available to Wantagh because of the freeze (again, I am not sure that is the case), then we could implement partial Full-day K/partial Half-day K on our own nickel, keeping our startup cost down with the half-day program.

I had been surprised that private preschools offer a wide variety of full- and half-day programs, and programs with 2, 3, and five days per week, because those are options that parents demand. Not surprised that a private enterprise would develop a better, more flexible program than the state-dictated Kindergarten plan. Hey, maybe we could look at a split half-day-full-day option for a section or two? As in, we could find out what options parents would prefer before deciding.

Just thinking out loud....

Chris Wendt

[cathy]

I have a child in Kindergarten this year. Starting this year the district offered an enrichment program through SCOPE that gives parents the option for a full day program, but you have to pay out of pocket for it. Essentially the children attend the SCOPE program in the morning and then after lunch they have the regular Kindergarten instruction with the district's teachers. I can't speak to what the SCOPE program offers since we opted not to enroll in it. I can tell you that Wantagh El parents were told at the pre-k orientation that the SCOPE program was educational enrichment, while Mandalay parents were told that it was not but rather a child care solution for working families. Again, I don't know which is closer to the truth.

I am curious what the state defines as full day. For example, I know that Levittown has an extended day K program. As I understand it, their program is roughly one hour longer than the Wantagh K program and the children have lunch at school and then do one extra lesson per day focused on fine motor skills - using scissors, holding a pencil properly, etc. Does that qualify as "full day" since the kids have lunch there?

I do think that we should have full day K for a variety of reasons, but I think it's a tough sell in the current economic environment. Since K isn't mandated by the state my guess is that it's the first place districts look to cut back money if possible. Last year when Levittown's budget was first voted down I know that their K teachers were very concerned that their K program would be switched back to half day again to save money. I think it will be interesting to see if other districts cut their K programs back in response to the cuts in funding from Albany.

Another thought about moving to full day K - from what I understand Wantagh El is at full capacity right now and wouldn't have enough classrooms to accommodate all the sections. I'm pretty sure that Forest Lake and Mandalay would be able to. So then I think it would force the district's hand to either rezone the 3 elementary schools or to switch to a system where each elementary school houses a few grades.

[Chris_Wendt]

Cathy, Full-day Kindergarten is defined as 5 hours exclusive of a meal period.

Chris Wendt