Full-day kindergarten on back burner in Batavia
The idea of bringing back full-day kindergarten to Batavia public schools should not be killed. Nor should it be vigorously pursued, the school board has decided.
The board said Tuesday administrators should keep it in mind.
Four board members cited the potential cost - estimated at $680,000 annually - as the primary reason not to bring it back.
"It would be difficult to do without" running a deficit, decreasing other programs or increasing class sizes, Chief Academic Officer Brad Newkirk said.
Illinois does not require full-day kindergarten. And districts must offer half-day kindergarten, even if they have full-day. The district offered free full-day kindergarten starting in 2001 but dropped it in 2010 when it lost the state money that helped pay for it.
The district kept free full-day kindergarten for students who were deemed at risk of failure academically.
For other students it arranged an optional half-day "enrichment" program, for which parents pay $295 a month per child. The Batavia Park District runs the program.
Some of the district's kindergarten and first-grade teachers have asked for full-day kindergarten to return, especially as the curriculum has become more rigorous to meet state standards under the Common Core initiative. Fitting that work into a 2½-hour school day is difficult, they have said.
"I empathize with the teachers. We have to look at the business side of this as well," board member Jason Stoops said. He said he could not support it, given uncertainties such as whether the state will enact a property-tax freeze, shift more of the pension-paying responsibility to the school district, or reduce aid.
The board is also looking at a five-year financial outlook that shows declining enrollment and deficit spending if it keeps its current staff levels.