Enrollment Begins For Expanded Transitional Kindergarten Program

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Enrollment opened on Wednesday for the Beverly Hills Unified School District's adjusted transitional kindergarten program.

The district's transitional kindergarten programming will look different this year to accommodate Gov. Gavin Newsom's newly adopted universal transitional kindergarten program for the state.

Newsom's new guidance will require schools across the state to create and adjust their programming to ensure that all 4-year-old California students have access to free transitional kindergarten by 2025.

The Beverly Hills Board of Education on Tuesday voted to approve an adjusted birthdate requirement for the upcoming school year to meet the new state requirement.

The district already offered transitional kindergarten programs at Horace Mann and Hawthorne elementary schools with two teachers. The adoption of the statewide universal program required the district only to change the birthdate requirement for the 2022-2023 transitional kindergarten year and again for the 2025-2026 year.

The board voted on Tuesday to accept students whose 5th birthdays fall between Dec. 31 and June 30. The district previously enrolled students whose 5th birthdays fell between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31.

"There's such a need in our school district. ... We're not like other school districts. We're very fortunate. We have students that are ready to learn at an earlier age. [If we can't] provide them with that experience when they are ready to learn, we lose some students," Superintendent Michael Bregy said.

Under the new requirement, the district will potentially need to add three or four sections of transitional kindergarten for the 2022-2023 school year, according to Dustin Seemann, assistant superintendent of education service.

Doing so would help stabilize elementary school enrollment, which would otherwise decline in coming years. The district will look to obtain funding from the state to help pay for the changes, Bregy said at Tuesday's board meeting.

This district's decision far overshoots the state's mandated timeline, which only requires schools to enroll students who turn 5 before Feb. 2 for the 2022-2023 school year.

Under Newsom's new program, the state required districts to gradually include more students in their transitional kindergarten programs over four years, reaching their goal in the 2025-2026 year. On its accelerated timeline, the Beverly Hills district will only have to make one more enrollment adjustment in the 2025-2026 school year, to accept students with birthdays up to Sept. 1.

There are multiple reasons to speed up the state's timeline, according to district staff. The district already offers transitional kindergarten, giving it an advantage over districts that have to start from scratch, Seemann said.

Additionally, it will be easier to make logistical changes all at once rather than year after year, Seemann said. The changes could include ordering materials and shifting around classrooms to accommodate more students.

"I'm really excited about adding these [transitional kindergarten] grades to our program. I'm really looking forward to having amore fully developed educational program," board President Mary Wells said. She added: "I think it's really exciting for all of us and for our school district."