Mountain View Whisman Moves Forward with Transitional Kindergarten Registration

Despite the rocky state of California's budget and funding for education, the (MVWSD) has said it plans to "do right" by its students and offer a minimum of two Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classes for the fall.

Kathi Lilga, the district’s executive assistant to the superintendent, said registration is underway for two TK classes for the fall—one classroom at and one at .

To date, many school districts in California still say they cannot—and will not—offer TK classes in the fall unless the state comes through with additional funding for it. 

"To be honest, we were in the same boat for quite a while," Lilga told Patch. "But, as time went on, it was looking more and more like the state Legislature was going to make TK a requirement, whether or not the state was going to fund it; so we decided, if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right."

As of now, Lilga said the district has posted job listings to hire two new teachers for the two TK classes. The money is slated to come out of the district’s general fund.

"We want to offer a good quality program, and basically, do it right," she said of the district’s commitment.

The two TK classes for the fall are open to any student who lives in the MVWSD, and who will turn five years old between the dates of Nov. 1, 2012 and Dec. 1, 2012.

Though eventually, by 2014, students will be required to be five years old by Sept. 1 in order to register for kindergarten in that year, at this time, MVWSD is following the law’s gradual adoption plan, and only offering TK for students with Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 birthdays for 2012-13.

Lilga said, eventually, once the law is fully in place and students are required to be five on or before Sept. 1 to enroll in kindergarten, the district may add more classes to accommodate a potentially growing number of TK students.

"We’ll see how it goes, and act accordingly," she said.

Registration for TK classes for eligible students is now underway. Parents can register their children through the district’s website, and will receive confirmation of their child’s enrollment by June 15.

Lilga said, the district is working hard to give parents sufficient notice of their child’s TK enrollment, so parents can plan accordingly for the next school year.

"We want to do it right, and allow parents to plan ahead, and know whether or not they need to make other arrangements for next year," Lilga said.

"After all, we may not know what the state budget is going to look like and whether the funding is coming until very late in the year."

For more information on TK and how to register for it in the MVWSD, visit the TK informational page of the district’s website.

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