Above: Proponents of tuition-free full day Kindergarten point out the increased learning expected of students in their first year of public school now vs when half day was adopted as the standard (image from Facebook)
Over the past couple of years, there has been a push by some members of the community to fund free full day Kindergarten in Southborough. It looks like a discussion of that will be included in tonight’s School Committee meeting. And organizers behind the push are looking for other parents to show up in support.
[Before some of you rush to post the usual comments – that means tuition-free. It obviously comes as a cost to tax payers.]
The topic isn’t listed on the agenda for tonight’s School Committee meeting. But the agenda does include next year’s budget and related priorities. (An item on most every agenda, so it didn’t stand out as something to highlight.)
It does make sense that if the committee is going to support eliminating tuition for full day kindergarten, they would need to fold that into next year’s budget.
The conversation was opened in the October School Committee meeting. You can see that here (Though the beginning is a bit hard to follow as Superintendent Johnson clearly was suffering from laryngitis!)
According to member Mary Beth Strickland, whether as a sudden increase or phased in through tuition decreases, ultimately the school budget would increase by about $350,000 per year.
Superindentent Christine Johnson pointed out to the committee that there is educational context to consider:
we have a state who has made it clear that the educational experience is K-12. . . The curriculum standards are not from first grade. Yet, with all the the things they mandate, they have chosen to mandate a rigorous curriculum and educational experience.
She also spoke to the emotional development that occurs in that is fostered in the first year of school:
There are neighboring districts who funded Kindergarten solely on the argument that preemptive education and experiences at such an early age will counter any long term costs that we’ve seen added to the budget over time in the area of school adjustment, in school counseling.
The financial savings may not directly translate in our town, since most of Southborough Kindergarteners attend full day on their parents dime. But she asked the committee to think about whether funding full day is an obligation of the district.
Parents involved in the movement Southborough for Full-Day Kindergarten posted to their Facebook page on December 6th:
We met with Superintendent Johnson, Principal Randell and Mary Beth Strickland from the School Committee last week. The School Committee is still debating whether they support funding full day Kindergarten.
There is a School Committee meeting December 14 at 6:30 at Trottier. We need people to attend to show their support. We hope at this meeting the School Committee will take a position on whether Southborough should fund Kindergarten fully in its K-8 budget
On December 12th a post clarified that the item will be discussed under the FY 18 Budget Discussion. And parents will be allowed to voice their opinions during public comment.
Other posts on Facebook this week pitched the need for a change. Among the arguments:
Years ago, the town implemented the full-day option as a way to allow parents to pay tuition for full-day Kindergarten if they wanted extra beyond the half day. While this did serve previous needs, the landscape has changed significantly for Kindergarten. The full day is no longer extra, but necessary to fully address the needs of today’s kindergarten students.
Plus:
The state mandates a rigorous curriculum and program with expectations of a full-day K experience of 900 hours, while at the same time only requires 450 hours for Kindergarten.
And:
Sharing some background from last year’s kindergarten study group. First is a comparison of teaching and learning expectations in the past vs. now, which shows that the requirements for K have increased greatly.
The second is the recommendation of the study group to implement a full-day only Comprehensive Kindergarten Learning model to address today’s curriculum requirements and focus on social/emotional needs and play.
77% of towns in MA have tuition-free full-day Kindergarten.
The meeting will begin in the Trottier Library at 6:30 pm. That offers the first opportunity for audience sharing. (The second is at the close of the meeting.) The budget is several items into the agenda. To see the agenda, click here.
Now how are the good folks of the Southborough (US NEA union agenda) going to now pay for full day kindergarten? Taxes I believe on the average home in Southborough are approaching $6800 and that is on the median lower end. We already support the Autism Center as an attraction of special needs in the town (that is the true reason our costs for public education are so high verses surrounding towns). Have you looked at the one on one teacher aides in Southborough? I am not saying it is a bad thing, people and families need help but at what expense? Just a thought…. Not putting anyone down or picking at a people group like I know the pundits will proclaim. PS If you want to look up your own facts please do.
Mike: would it be possible for you to share more information about how Southborough “support(s) the Autism Center (NECC?) as an attraction of special needs in the town”? I’m not sure exactly what you mean. Also, if you could provide your sources for your “one on one teacher aides in Southborough” info, it would be much appreciated. I’m assuming you support education, so I’m wondering how you would cut expenses and still provide the free appropriate public education that our children with learning challenges are legally entitled to.
There are reasons that we historically decided that kindergarten would be half day. Number one is that many kids at that age are not quite ready for the demands that being in a school environment for that amount of time places on them, the half day is a great way to help make the adjustment slowly. Pushing kids who are not ready can have negative consequences on how they feel about school moving forward. Are most kids ready, maybe? Are most kids already getting pushed into this by their parents… yes, but at least any negative consequences are brought on by the parents and not the government/community forcing it. I believe this is a direct result of 2 parent working households desiring free daycare. At the end of the day, the parents should have the choice like the way it is now.
Have studies shown that full day Kindergarten is more beneficial overall, yes, but most of these studies admit there is a fade out and that the half day kids catch up quickly. Their results are generally also cumulative, so if 2/3’s do better but 1/3 does worse, it’s considered a success, but is it? Also most of the studies are not done in affluent communities, where more kids are home with a stay-at-home parent who is likely providing an environment just as beneficial as the school. Just because 77% of MA is doing it isn’t a very good argument, our district is one of the best, maybe they should be looking to us. There is also a slippery slope here, those same studies showing the benefits of full day kindergarten, also show the benefits of preschool. Is the town going to offer preschool next?
If I had 350k a year available, I think it would be much better used serving the 1-12 grades. Smaller student to teacher ratio’s, we could offer more electives, improve the facilities, and/or pay for things we currently rely on fundraising for. Not that I agree with that this is needed, but this money could be used to bus the high schoolers in later? We are currently doing the bare minimum in terms of hours per year and days per year, studies also show that longer school days and years are better. Not to mention that the town in general has a lot of costs coming up. Maybe the school district could (gasp) reduce the budget.