By Angela Fee-Maimon
Parents, district debate full funding for daylong school sessions
Every year, months before a new school year begins in Hopewell Valley Regional School District, parents of children that are going to be entering kindergarten must register their child for a program. So well-organized parents bundle themselves in parkas and make their way to the school district’s central administrative building when the first day enrollment begins in January to ensure their kindergarteners a spot in the desired full-day or half-day program.
Marisa Enroth, a school district parent, said parents enrolling their child for kindergarten this Jan. 5, heard that changes might be occurring that would affect next year’s program. Those parents then used social media to spread the word to others about these proposed changes.
“Over the course of the following week, parents began educating themselves about full-day kindergarten and the many issues surrounding offering a tuition-based option,” Enroth said.
Upon realizing that there was another board meeting the following week, Equal Access to Full Day Kindergarten in Hopewell was formed to get the word out fast and to educate people with as much information as possible, she said.
What began with just a few voices grew quickly into a communitywide social media movement, with more than 200 members who support fully-funded, full-day Kindergarten at all elementary schools in the district. In a short time, members found research and information to support their stance that every child entering kindergarten is entitled access to a full-day program free of cost.
“In order to meet the mastery goals of the Core Curriculum, there aren’t enough hours in a half day. So what we are hearing from teachers and parents is that certain things are being left out in order to meet these goals—flexibility in teaching, reinforcement of information taught, free choice (play time) for kids—and the teachers are still falling short of the goals. This is not a reflection on the teachers, but rather a reflection on an unrealistic schedule,” Enroth said.
Several parents were able to compile research-based talking points to present to the board at the meeting on Jan. 12. Nancy Andreski, a district parent, wrote in her presentation to the board, “Eighty-one percent of school districts in the state of New Jersey offer full-day kindergarten. There is a bill in the assembly at the moment to mandate full-day kindergarten across the state. This is the trend. This is the norm. Hopewell needs to offer it, too.”
Currently, the school district offers a half-day kindergarten program at no cost, and an extended-day kindergarten program that charges tuition and offers enrichment. Next year, the district plans to enhance the full-day program by adding more curriculum-based content. Financial assistance is available to assist with the cost of tuition for parents who need it.
Lisa Wolff, President of the Board of Education at HVRSD, said the current proposal maintains the tuition system that has been in place for years that extends kindergarten to a full day.
“While the new option proposes the same investment, the value is better for families due to the improved curriculum,” she said.
However, questions of unequal access arise with the district charging for the delivery of curriculum. It may seem like the school district is creating a disparity in the quality of education between half- and full-day classrooms by providing the latter with more curriculum-based instruction than their peers will receive.
“If there is going to be full day kindergarten, it should be fully funded by the school district,” Enroth said. “Full-day kindergarten will be teaching curriculum all day long. To my knowledge, there is no other program in this district that teaches Common Core curriculum that requires parents to pay a fee. Parents should not be expected to pay tuition for public school.”
Wolff reiterated that the school board has already committed to adding fully-funded kindergarten to the district in the future. However timing depends on the budget.
The cost of implementing the program will be over a million dollars, once both cost for the program and lost revenue from the tuition are calculated together.
“At the board meeting that the Future Planning Committee issued their recommendation for full day kindergarten, Superintendent Tom Smith indicated that the 2015-16 school year was a very aggressive target and that he would prefer additional time to ensure program efficacy,” the school board president said.
Wolff added that Dr. Smith and his team “did an amazing job” organizing the curriculum-based kindergarten option that is set to replace the current extended kindergarten next year.
The group contends that everyone should have equal access to full-day kindergarten beginning next year, because the district is already adding the program later than a majority of school districts in New Jersey who already have the program in place.
“At this point, we are behind the vast majority of New Jersey school districts. Our school district is trying to play catch up,” said Enroth.
According to Enroth, most school districts in New Jersey offer full-day Kindergarten, and the list is growing. Flemington-Raritan began offering funded Kindergarten this year, Jackson and Randolph Township School Districts recently voted to fund full-day Kindergarten for the upcoming 2015 school year, and neighboring Montgomery Township plans to offer funded Kindergarten in two years.
Wolff is quick to point-out that first-grade classrooms in the district are equipped to handle an influx of students with varying educational backgrounds. For some time, first grade has catered to a mixture of students who attended half- and full-day programs within the district, students who attended outside programs, and students have never attended school since kindergarten is not mandatory in New Jersey.
“Our teachers are professionals and differentiate to challenge all students. They teach kids where they are at,” said Wolff.
As for the 2015 kindergarten programs, Wolff said, “We can’t say if the ‘tuition-free’ part is realistic until our administration gets our aid numbers from the state,” Wolff said.
