Now superintendents and trustees are scrambling to figure out how to make it so before fall.
With startup funding in limbo until last Tuesday, many school districts have held off on remodeling, hiring and other spending decisions. They must also poll parents to gauge the interest in full-day programs vs. the traditional half-day model. And they must devise cost-effective ways of offering both.
“We're a little lucky,” Latrielle said. “We have a multipurpose room that will become our second kindergarten room. It will make us scramble to find room for other things. And down the road a year or two, that's when our space problems become significant.”
The expected allotment of about $1,000 per kindergartner in state startup money should cover the cost of a new full-time teacher plus the renovations, he said. But it doesn't give him guidance on how to offer a half-day program. Right now, he plans to let parents who wish pick up or drop off their kids at lunchtime.
That seems simple, as long as most families want one plan or the other. If the preferences split 50-50, Clinton looks at either hiring an underutilized full-time teacher or risks overwhelming the existing staff.
In Missoula County Public Schools, the problem runs the other way. MCPS Superintendent Jim Clark has proposed creating a half-day program at a single elementary school, while all nine buildings would offer full-day classes.
Details remain to be worked out, such as what would happen to a child who starts in a half-day class, but decides she wants to go full-time? And what will happen to the school district's half-time kindergarten teachers who may not wish to work full-time schedules?
“We're such a local-control state,” said state Rep. Holly Raser, D-Missoula. “We have broad standards about ‘this is what children must learn.' But we don't have curriculum in place for what all-day kindergarten should look like. We just know what they need at the start of first grade.”
Raser helped push all-day kindergarten legislation through the Montana Legislature's 2007 regular session and subsequent five-day special session. She is also a first-grade teacher at Target Range Elementary School, where the leadership remains on the fence about next fall.
“Personally, I think it's a great program,” Target Range Superintendent Bill Colter said. “But we have to look and see what the state's going to cough up in cash. I wish we had some more details on that thing.”
Target Range trustees are scheduled to discuss their options for all-day kindergarten Monday. In Lolo, Elementary Superintendent Mike Magone was also taking a wait-and-see approach.
“The intent is we'll go full-day kindergarten as soon as we can, but we are waiting until we get the official word,” Magone said. “If we do it this summer, it's going to be very, very busy. Some other projects we're working on, like improvements to our kitchens, may be put aside.”
The state Office of Public Instruction is resurveying all school districts to see which are starting all-day kindergarten this fall. About 30 percent of the state's 5,500 kindergartners already attend full-day programs, according to OPI spokesman Joe Lamson.
OPI's earlier consultations showed about 80 percent of Montana school districts planned to start all-day kindergarten as soon as funding was available.
The Legislature's special session approved $38 million for all-day kindergarten. Of that, $28 million boosts the per-student funding that covers the daily costs of teaching more children. Known as “average number belonging,” or ANB, it's the money schools rely on for teacher salaries, power bills and other operating expenses.
The remaining $10 million is one-time money for startup expenses. These include additional desks, chairs and equipment for new kindergarten classrooms. Some districts, including MCPS, may need it for remodeling costs of turning a staff office into a children's space. Others, possibly including Frenchtown School District, might need the dollars to rent private space in the community because their existing schools are too full.
Lamson said the schools that already operate all-day kindergarten may use the state funds to adapt their upper grades. For instance, Laurel's existing all-day kindergarten class is prompting the district to rethink its whole K-3 elementary program. And Great Falls, which has had all-day kindergarten for four years, has had to expand its fourth-grade curriculum to absorb the better-skilled children coming in.
One group that's been fairly quiet in the whole process is the daycare industry. While kindergartners tend to phase out of the main preschool market, they still make up an important part of the customer base. Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula, introduced this session's all-day kindergarten legislation and led the effort to get it passed.
“Nobody contacted me during the session from daycare in opposition,” Williams said. “I heard from a handful who opposed full-day kindergarten. Out of the hundreds of e-mails I received, about 10 were against it.”
On the other hand, the calls from families, teachers and voters to implement it were overwhelming, Williams said. Evidence mounts to show that investing in early childhood education has the greatest long-term payoff of any school improvement.
“We got it passed,” Williams said. “We're going to have this as part of the education base from here on out.”
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com
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