Residents, Board Members, Probe Kindergarten Program

Cost, lottery slots, transportation and other questions were among residents’ and board members inquiries on the district’s Children at Play Learning Program for kindergarten-aged students.

While the program garnered board approval, with Thomas Kinst as the only dissenting vote, it under scrutiny from the public and board, particularly regarding cost to residents, program costs and logistics.

Andrea Geraci, of Davenport Way, the program cost was a problem, though she noted the social interaction and non-academic basis would have helped her son when he was in kindergarten.

“What I found out the first week of school is that he did not need academic enrichment, he needed play time, social interaction,” she said. “If you have a potential in your program to break even at $609 dollars, and you want to have 22, a child like mine can’t be in this program.  I do think that is an unfair advantage because when you think about the whole child, it is not just academic.  It’s social, it’s creativity.”

For one local aftercare provider, transportation to the after care center from the morning kindergarten classes was a concern.

“The question I have is for transportation,” Susan Hoy, owner of The Goddard School said. “If you’re assigned to go to after-kindergarten and you go to morning kindergarten, transportation has always been very accommodating to those requests. . .I’m just hoping the same courtesy will be extended to those whose needs are not met by the CAP program.”

The transportation arrangement to after-care centers for morning kindergarten students would remain, regardless of the CAP program, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Scott Rocco said.

Hoy also asked whether the district would consider sending children to other schools if there were schools that did not meet the program minimum. The district had not discussed that option at the time of the meeting, Rocco said.

The cost of CAP compared to existing private kindergarten programs, particularly programs providing kindergarten and aftercare concerned board member Chris Pulsifer.

“My concern is for parents who are both working,” he said.  “I don’t think we’ve presented a cost comparison of our CAP program and a cost comparison to the other programs that are available.”

“For a lot of parents, this is a nice enrichment opportunity, but if they’re still working, they still have to have that (after school) coverage,” he added.  “The true cost to them is  not a comparison of CAP versus this other program, but CAP plus after school.”

Room availability topped board member Judy Haas’ concerns, particularly moving some of the existing classes, like Amsterdam’s Transitional Primary program and Triangle’s pre-kindergarten program, to other schools.

The pre-kindergarten program move is not a result of the CAP program, but rather from discussions with the district’s Special Services department, Rocco said.  The move would allow necessary program services to be housed in the same building, he said.

Haas also asked for the district’s plan if one school does not have enough students to run a program and another has a surfeit of students.
In that case, the district may consider nixing the program in a school that is significantly below the break-even point, while capping the other school at the 22-student maximum, Antunes said.

 The break-even point varies based on whether the district needs to provide additional transportation because of the program, and would be eight students if transportation is not needed and 10 students if it is necessary.

For board member Marc Rosenberg, the concern was mid-year enrollments and whether parents who move to the district mid-year can take a spot in CAP.

“Is it correct to assume that, if someone comes in January, February to enroll their child in kindergarten, they have a right to enroll their child in kindergarten but they won’t be able to put their child in this program,” Rosenberg said.

Mid-year students would not necessarily be excluded from the program and could join the program if space is available, District Superintendent Jorden Schiff said. In cases where space is not available, the student would be added to the end of the program wait list, if the parents are interested in the program.

Despite his vote against the program, Thomas Kinst questioned the $609 monthly rate, thinking it could be higher because of the program’s value.  He also cited the need to make existing part-time employees who receive benefits and pension as reasons for voting against the plan, though he agreed with the program concept.