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All-day kindergarten tough to implement

Some districts say the cost of starting is prohibitive

Ashton Payne (left), Brianna Cheesman and Isis Chapman listen to audiotapes in Pat Bown's classroom Friday, Sept. 3 at New Miami Elementary School.

Staff photo by Nick Daggy Ashton Payne (left), Brianna Cheesman and Isis Chapman listen to audiotapes in Pat Bown's classroom Friday, Sept. 3 at New Miami Elementary School.

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 8:57 PM Saturday, September 4, 2010

HAMILTON — All-day, every-day kindergarten is a key initiative in Gov. Ted Strickland’s evidence-based school funding model, but Butler County districts that didn’t already offer it were not able to meet the mandate to start doing so this fall.

According to Hamilton City School District spokesperson Joni Copas, Hamilton has been offering all-day kindergarten since this year’s graduating class were kindergartners. New Miami has had all-day kindergarten for the last 15 years, according to superintendent Melissa Kircher.

“The opinion was that we had a lot of kids who weren’t ready for school, so they used district funds to start all-day kindergarten,” she said.

Middletown, too, has had all-day kindergarten for “a couple of years before the mandate,” according to Superintendent Greg Rasmussen.

“Early childhood education is essential for a solid academic foundation,” he said. “Research shows that if we do not teach children to read by the end of third grade, their chance for success in school goes down significantly.

“All-day kindergarten helps us to jump start the learning, especially for those students who have not been exposed to rich vocabulary in their homes,” he said.

Other districts, however, say the costs of implementing all-day kindergarten is prohibitive in this economy. The cost of implementing all-day, every-day kindergarten statewide is estimated to be $190 million and would fall to local school districts.

Fortunately for them, there are provisions for schools to apply for a waiver to delay such implementation. Department officials said 189 school districts received waivers this year and it will be possible to extend that waiver for the 2011-12 school year.

“The cost to Ross to implement all-day kindergarten is currently estimated at $360,000,” said Greg Young, superintendent of Ross Local Schools, which received a waiver. “Unless the state finds a way to replace the federal stimulus funds that will expire at the end of this school year, I am guessing that we will apply for the waiver next year.”

Fairfield City Schools also sought a waiver, citing “funding restraints” on the application.

“If a decision is made to have all-day kindergarten, we would have to make space in our elementary schools, where possible, and the kindergarten center,” said Randy Oppenheimer, community relations director. “But again, no decision has been made regarding all-day kindergarten for the 2011-2012 school year.”

Edgewood and Lakota districts also received a waiver.

Margo Rutledge Kissell, Andy Sedlak, Lindsay Hilty and Kelsey Cano contributed to this report.

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