Half-day K classes Daily Herald

[gatormom]

21 must enroll in half-day classes in Dist. 204
If fewer, kindergartners must go to different school, board says

Amy Boerema
Daily Herald
1/15/2008

At least 21 children must enroll in a half-day kindergarten class for it to proceed at individual Indian Prairie Unit District 204 elementary schools, officials decided Monday.

In late November, the district approved offering all-day kindergarten at each school beginning this fall, but parents still can opt for half-day at the site. To meet budget requirements, administrators recommended a minimum class size of 21 at each school.

"That would definitely be a shooting point so that our kindergarten classes are reasonable in size," Deputy Superintendent Kathy Birkett said.

Parents will hear more details about the plan in March.

Locations and class sizes will be determined later, but parents must commit to a half-day or full-day program for a full year by July 31. Full-day programs have no minimum requirement.

Because of that, Jeannette Clark was the sole board member to vote against the plan. She said she's uncomfortable with the half-day option is treated differently, particularly since the district is mandated by the state to offer it.

"We're not treating half-day and full-day on the same level playing field," she said.

If only 10 children sign up for full-day at a school, the program still can run at that location, but if 10 students sign up for half-day, they would be moved to another site, she said.

Board member Curt Bradshaw said officials have made the decision to be a full-day district, while still giving parents the half-day option.

Clark also insisted on eliminating an opt-out option at semester's end, saying it's unfair for the kids who choose to stay if their class size changes and they have to move to another site.

"It's way too disruptive for 5-year-olds," she said.

The board also discussed lowering classroom minimums, with Bradshaw saying he felt more comfortable with 19. Administrators said 21 is a safer number to lock in a room. Lowering class sizes also means adding more teachers, they said.

Some board members thought the discussion was irrelevant.

"I think we're spending a lot of time in micro-managing," Bruce Glawe said. "We've got good principals out there; they'll figure this out."

[proschool]

I was at the meeting.

I found the attitude of the school district administration to be disturbing.


They proposed allowing students to switch from half day K to all day K in the middle of the year. Half day K parents would be informed that if the classroom is reduced below a critical mass of 21 students then the kindergarten class would be disbanded and the half day k students would be transferred to another school.


It was obvious to me that the district policy would have been to discourage parents from opting for Half Day K.

I think that if parents choose Half Day K it is because they know whats best.

[Arch]

From the first meeting it seemed like they wanted parents to feel that they had the 'choice' but the quantifiers around the half-day were so piss poor and deliberate to make them not really a 'choice' due to the hassle.

[d204mom]

proschool said:

I found the attitude of the school district administration to be disturbing.

I found the attitude of the administration extremely distrubing at the all day K meeting I attended as well.

[proschool]

d204mom said:

proschool said:

I found the attitude of the school district administration to be disturbing.

I found the attitude of the administration extremely distrubing at the all day K meeting I attended as well.

Yeah. Like whats the deal with KB saying what the principles would like or not. She is thier boss: she tells them what to like.