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Schools

School Board Approves Universal Full-Day Kindergarten

Current lottery system, with haves and have-nots, deemed unfair.

In a competitive world, young children and the Bensalem School District both need full-day kindergarten.

That was the message Wednesday night as the Board of Education approved universal full-day kindergarten for next school year. The action means the district has moved on from a pilot partial kindergarten program that utilized an enrollment lottery that everyone agreed was unfair to those youngsters who didn't "win."

The program is expected to cost $613,000 for 20 classes with 24 students in each.

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But supporters, including Superintendent David Baugh, said the district can not afford not to have full-day classes for all kindergartners at the district's six elementary schools.

Stacy Kutner, a former member of the full-day kindergarten committee, was the first to point out at Wednesday's board meeting that all of the other schools in Bensalem -- School Lane Charter, St. Ephrem and St. Charles Borromeo -- have universal full-day kindergarten.

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"I don't think the members of our board should provide less than everyone else," she said.

Director of Business Operations Jack Myers estimated that if the board did not approve universal full-day kindergarten, 40 more local children would enroll in a charter school, costing the district more than $10,000 each. Public school districts must pay for students in charter schools.

Administration officials have stressed that full-day kindergarten produces students more ready educationally and socially for first grade.

The board approved the program 5-3, with members Kevin McKay, Matt Grodsky and Pam Strange dissenting. Grodsky and McKay said some research indicates that educational advances made in full-day kindergarten level off in later elementary years. But Dr. Baugh said new studies show full-day kindergarten classes have a "profound long-term effect," including higher levels of college attendance, lower divorce rates and less criminal involvement.

Grodsky and McKay also expressed concern with the cost, with the latter saying he promised voters he would not raise taxes to support the program.

Under a pilot program that began in 2007-2008, the district has been holding a lottery to determine which children can attend full-day classes. There are currently 120 full-day students and 275 half-day pupils, and administrators have said the discrepancy is detrimental to the latter group.

Dr. Baugh said Wednesday that the lottery is so "inherently unfair" that the district would have reverted to all half-day classes if the board decided against universal full-day K.

"I can't support the lottery, whereby through pure chance some students get a wonderful learning opportunity and others don't," he said.

Board President Heather Nicholas said she used to oppose the change until she visited many classes.

"You can see the difference," she said.

Board member Ralph Douglass also pointed out that the district had heard nothing but support for full-day classes from members of the public.

"The benefits are huge," township resident Margo Mocarsky said at Wednesday's meeting. "Please help us to give all of our children a leg up, not only in educational skills but also in self-esteem ..."

(Article courtesy of the Bensalem School District.)

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