It’s not looking good for full-day kindergarten in the Derby school district next year.
The program is slated to be reduced to a half-day program, part of a cost-savings plan introduced in Superintendent Stephen Tracy’s proposed 2011 – 2012 school budget.
The school district is strapped for cash. Tracy is proposing the elimination of nine positions in the school district, for a savings of $357,000. An early-retirement incentive has also been offered to shed the pounds off Derby’s payroll. Its benefits won’t be felt next year.
The budget also includes $340,000 in wage increases, including $215,000 from a new contract with the teacher’s union.
Tracy’s budget still carries a 6.9 percent increase over the current school budget.
School board members have been scrutinizing the budget to reduce their funding request from the city.
Full-day kindergarten was on the chopping block last year during budget time as well. Parents fought hard to convince the school board to maintain the program.
Parents are again reminding the school board how important the program is for the district’s youngest students. A 2008 policy brief from the National Educational Association lays out the benefits. Click here to download the report.
School board members realize the importance — both Casey Picheco and George Kurtyka said they don’t like the idea — but they just can’t figure out how to continue paying for it.
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Irving School principal Fran Gallo said that while all-day kindergarten benefits children, the questions are — what will have to be cut to keep it in place, and what affect will those cuts have on children?
“Something else major would have to be cut,” Gallo said.
The program is not worth it if maintaining all-day kindergarten meant combining third-and-fourth-grade classes at Irving, or laying off more teachers, Gallo said.
The principal said that four years ago, Irving had three classes of third graders who excelled on the reading portion of the CMT tests. They “bombed” the test in fourth grade. Gallo said budget reductions put the kids into two fourth-grade classes of 26 students each.
While school board members were worried about all-day kindergarten, no one has made a motion to maintain it in next year’s budget at Tuesday’s meeting.
Kurtyka said school parents told him officials on the state level are talking about making all-day kindergarten mandatory for under-performing school districts.
