Howell Schools Add Full Day Kindergarten

The idea of full day kindergarten in the Howell schools has been discussed for many years but at Monday's Board of Education meeting, the potential became a reality after a unanimous vote. 

After some discussion by the board the plan was unanimously adopted for the start of the 2013-14 school year despite some objections from parents in the audience.

The decision came after a committee was formed at the Jan. 3 meeting of the board to determine the benefits of going from half day to full day across the district.

Committee Report

The committee consisted of teachers and administrators from around the district under the direction of Greenville School Principal Lynn Coco. After presenting its findings the committee said it was giving a "overwhelming recommendation" for the full day kindergarten program."

During their presentation the committee said currently more than 70 percent of districts across the state offer a full day kindergarten. That number continues to grow as districts like Brick have recently added the program to their curriculum. 

One of the driving factors in the kindergarten surge has been the recently implemented Common Core Standards across the state. In the presentation the committee said the standards are meant to "define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 careers." You can learn more about the Common Core Standards here.

Even as young as kindergarten the standards provide guidance on what the students should be learning in areas like literature, writing, speech and various areas of math like counting and measurement.

The committee also said research has shown that full day kindergarten programs can help reduce the achievement gap which has been a goal of the district in recent years.

They also said there were reasons not to go with full day kindergarten including the costs associated with the staffing and facility needs for the program. A common objection by parents at Monday's meeting was that their children would not be ready to spend a full day in school like the older children do.

Those concerns were addressed during the meeting. The overall belief of the committee was that the full day program would allow the teachers to better educate the students with the Common Core Standards and allows time to build on other skills like critical thinking, exploring and sharing knowledge.

They also said the full day program would provide more consistency for the students and cut down on transitions they would need to make to help make the educational experience more efficient. The extended day will also allow students to work on their self regulation skills which the committee said was also an important skill to develop.

Before Monday's meeting the district had sent a survey out to the community go gauge interest in the change. According to the committee more than 600 votes or just over 89 percent were in favor of full day kindergarten. 

The committee offered three possible options for kindergarten in the district. The first was to keep the current half day format which they said would contain the costs but would not allow for teaching techniques which they said, "address developmental needs for the students."

They also explored an extended day which would allow for more instruction time but would not be a full day. The committee said that would increase transportation costs, come with increased costs on its own and could be an inconvenience for parents, especially those with more than one student in the district.

Along with the educational impact of the change the committee also looked at the financial costs. For the extended day the cost would be $1,511,700 and would include 17 classroom teachers, two special area teachers and seven classroom aides as well as supplies needed for the classes. 

With the full day program the committee determined it would allow time to teach the Common Core Standards, help with student development and provide "a consistent learning environment." 

The main con for the plan they said was the costs associated, while not much more than the extended day program. The total cost, they said, would be around $1,546,700.

With only one kindergarten session as opposed to the morning and afternoon classes the committee said the district would save $240,000 each year. They also said with more students in the full day program it would help the district's state aid.

Public and Board Reaction

During the public comment portion of the meeting there was a mix of parent reaction with some believing the extra time would help prepare the students while others believed the day would be too long and were in favor of either the current program or the extended day. Other parents also said they would have liked more notice that the full day program was coming to better help prepare them for the longer days in September.

Board President Mary Cerretani said the committee did a "fabulous job," presenting and was also glad that the parents had come out to express their concerns.

She also asked Superintendent Enid Golden about the impact of extended day or full day programs. Golden said she believes, "nobody knows their child better than their parents." However, she said with some students going full day and some going half there could be a gap in their being prepared for first grade.

Golden also said that the schedule that was shown during the meeting was not set in stone for anything the district would implement in September. She also said a full day program would allow more time for the students to process their lessons and still work in the constraints of the day.

The superintendent said if a full day program was adopted the district could look into the possibility of having full and half day programs if there was enough interest in the shorter days. The shorter day programs also could be limited to only a few buildings rather than across the district.

Board member Tim O'Brien said he believed family interaction was also important in the development of the students. He said he understood both sides of the arguments and was also in favor of the "hybrid" approach.

O'Brien called it a "significant minority," of people at the meeting who wanted to have a choice. "I feel that any program that we do would have to be concurrent with trying to engage the parents," he said in an effort to "reinforce and help them do more at home."

Chuck Welsh, one of the newest members of the board, said he did not believe a change in the program would have a negative affect on the balance between home and school. "Having an enriching family life and a full day kindergarten aren't mutually exclusive ideas," he said. 

Golden said she was "not adverse to offering both," but was concerned about the preparation for first grade. She recommended going forward with the full day program and looking into options for shortened day possibilities. 

It was Stephen Levine who made the motion to implement the full day kindergarten program with the start of the upcoming school year and after being approved received a loud applause from people in the audience.

Finance Committee Chairman John Van Noy said even with the added costs he believed the board could still reach its goal of not increasing the tax levy on township residents. "We really do think that we can manage this whole process," he said. "A good part of it is the result of our debt reduction," he said. 

Also helping reduce the impact for residents is a plan that would allow the district to work on capital and future needs for safety and technology in what Van Noy called "a lease acquistion plan," in conjunction with Monmouth County. "From an overall point of view I think we can achieve no new tax levies," he said. 

Additional costs like the full day kindergarten and changes in the district's security protocols could have cost the residents a significant amount of money but Van Noy said the administration has worked hard to soften the impact. "We have a business administrator and an assistant business administrator who are crunching numbers and working miracles," he said. "We really feel we have such an opportunity at this time with next to no interest rates with Monmouth County that we're able to do things that we hadn't been able to do before."

After the meeting Golden said, "it was the right decision for the district." While it has been discussed for many years she said the Common Core Standards helped to move it forward. 

For parents who have already registered for kindergarten Golden said they will be notified about the change to full day and will ask about their interest in the half day program. 

She said the committee will now look at a schedule plan for the full day kindergarten. She also said for the first year there will be "a crunch," for space for at least the first year. "We need to redistrict because we have schools that are very overloaded and schools that don't have that many kids."

Golden said the goal is to have the redistricting plan in place by next December. "For at least one year we surveyed every school and we pretty much have come up with every school can accommodate it." She also said there will be "a lot of hiring."

With 13 teachers currently on staff she said they will have to hire at least another 13 teachers as well as special interest teachers. She also said the district expects families who send their children to private kindergarten programs will now look to move them into the Howell Public Schools. 

Coco said she was proud of the work her group has done so far. "The Kindergarten Review Committee members did an excellent job in presenting our findings," she said. "I am very proud to have worked with this dedicated group of educators and parents. We are pleased that the BOE has approved the implementation of full day Kindergarten for the Howell Township Schools."

Cerretani said she was "surprised" so many parents came out and were concerned about the program. She said she was also concered that students wouldn't be ready developmentally "but research has proven me wrong."

The board president said "I think given the way of education it's a very good thing for the students of Howell Township." She also said it will take time to see how effective the change will be and an adjustment period for everyone involved. "I also do believe that given the fact that most households have two working parents or at least two parents that want to be working many children in Howell Township are already in full day programming possibly only because parents have to be out there and working."

As for the potential of a hybrid program or a split program she said, "I would rather see very child get what that child needs and if there's a way for us to be able to do that, to facilitate that then I would love to be able to do that." As an educator she said the split could be "problematic," but said that did not mean that was the right result.

The next meeting for the board is scheduled for Thursday March 21 at 8 p.m. at Middle School North.