Evergreen Public Schools will decide by Jan. 12 whether to keep full-day, alternating-day kindergarten classes introduced this autumn or revert to conventional half-day schedules by early February.
That’s just for the remainder of the 2009-10 school year.
The district plans to readdress the kindergarten issue, soliciting fresh public input next spring, for a permanent solution.
Come January, Superintendent John Deeder will submit a short-term recommendation to the school board. Tuesday night, board members heard directly from about a dozen parents mostly in support of half-day classes.
Personal stories of frustration buttressed opinion registered in a recent survey mailed to about 1,800 kindergarten parents and input from 27 kindergarten teachers, the district said.
Of 529 parent surveys received — that’s about a 30 percent return rate — 57 percent were in favor of a return to half-day kindergarten. Fourteen of 27 instructors polled agreed.
However, a wide majority of both parents and teachers oppose making a midyear change: 72 percent of parents and 67 percent of teachers were against reshuffling schedules this winter.
Deeder said the district also will consider 70 to 75 pages of written suggestions that accompanied the surveys, plus e-mails sent to officials.
Parents who testified in favor of half-day classes said their children have suffered from wildly varying schedules. They become anxious over class when there is a school day, or show poor academic progress due to less frequent reinforcement of lessons.
Kimberly Perrins said her fifth child has noticeably lagged behind siblings in routine learning skills, despite shining in most other areas.
“I’ve had five kindergartners. He is considerably behind the other ones,” Perrins said. After thriving on a daily routine of preschool and other activities, he now pitches a fit on school days, she said. “He goes to everything (else), but he won’t go to school.”
Robert Perkins said he and other Burnt Bridge Elementary School parents believe half-days are needed to “contribute to a sense of routine I think a 5-year-old needs.”
Others said their children report whole-day kindergarten is just too long.
Savings on bus costs
School board member Joan Skelton told the audience that Evergreen had scoured learning research and found no qualitative difference in half-day or alternating schedules.
Prompting the schedule change this year was a sweeping overhaul of district school bus schedules that shaved about $1.5 million in costs. Eliminating midday bus runs for morning- and afternoon-session kindergarten trimmed about $550,000 to $600,000 alone, Deeder said.
Now, kindergartners attend either Mondays and Thursdays, or Tuesdays and Fridays — and alternate most Wednesdays. Over the entire school year, total instruction hours equal those under the old schedule.
There are many advocates of the new set-up.
“I just haven’t seen any problems with my son and his classmates,” said Kari Schwarzott, a Hearthwood Elementary School parent who had been skeptical. She accepted the budget-driven change as “the lesser of two evils” against further school cuts, she said. She said another switch now could be even more disruptive.
“Any change midyear is only going to appease parents. It’s not going to help students,” Schwarzott said.
Her husband, David, urged the board to stand by its prior decision “and not to waste our tax money, especially with (the Feb. 9 proposed tax levy measure) coming.”
‘It’s worth it’
Having heard Deeder and board members stress the importance of tax levy dollars even during tough times, Jennifer Gotfredson said she valued five-day schedules over modest cost savings.
“It might not be the cheaper route, but just like you say, ‘The levy is worth it,’ I feel it’s worth it,” Gotfredson said.
If the school board backs a midyear shift, busing and school leaders would need about three weeks to juggle schedules, making Feb. 1 the likely target, Deeder said.
New spending to revive bus runs would come from cash reserves. Deeder said he would argue for offset cutbacks within Evergreen’s busing budget, such as elimination of elementary school bus routes within one mile of campus (a current district service not reimbursed by state money).
