Tuition-based kindergarten considered for D73

Most respondents to a recent survey in Hawthorn Elementary District 73 said they favor an all-day kindergarten and would be willing to pay for it.

Operating an optional, tuition-based full-day kindergarten remains on the table as the Vernon Hills-based district begins planning for upcoming budgets.

A wide majority said they would be interested in the full-day kindergarten, with two-thirds of 287 respondents saying they would be willing to pay $4,000.

Support for a tuition-based preschool program also received a favorable response, and the district will develop specific plans of how that might work in relation to other district goals, such as ensuring equal access for all students while maintaining a balanced budget.

That could mean adjusting school attendance boundaries or how current schools are used, as well as acquiring more property for long-term use, for example.

“It’s got to be looked at in conjunction with a much bigger picture addressing those strategic challenges,” Superintendent Sue Zook said.

The 323 responses was considered good for a district survey but is not a definitive tool.

“It was just a guide,” Zook said.

District 73 currently provides a half-day kindergarten program, which has been increasing in size and has averaged more than 400 students for five consecutive years.

The average has increased from about 365 students to about 420, Zook said. Pre-K in District 73 is known as the Hawthorn Early Learning Program and serves about 160 students.

Charging for an optional full day of those programs was among the possibilities considered by the district’s financial advisory task force to close an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million budget shortfall.

Tuition-based programs for kindergarten and pre-K would fill a need for district families and bring in $500,000 a year in revenue, estimates showed.

Experience in other districts showed high demand for the programs and the opportunity to recoup initial investments.

“The full-day kindergarten is an attractive thing,” Zook said.

However, clearing the path for that to happen is a complicated process that will be considered amid a districtwide examination of space, facilities and boundary needs.

The next step is to develop more detailed plans for the full-day kindergarten and pre-K programs as they might fit in a bigger framework, particularly given the crowded condition of some schools.

Once developed, these “tactical plans” will be shared with the board and reviewed with the public and others. The soonest any changes would occur would be the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.