Board of Ed Approves Full-Day Kindergarten With Opt-Out Provision [Updated]

Updated, 9:52 p.m.

The Board of Education approved the administration's full-day kindergarten program with opt-out provision in a 4-2 vote Thursday night.

Original Story

The administration at Miller-Driscoll Elementary School will recommend to the
Board of Education on Thursday an opt-out provision for families that don't want their children to particpate in their proposed full-day kindergarten program, according to a document released by the BoE.

"This action is in response to parent concerns regarding a full-day kindergarten schedule," according to the document.

The opt-out provision will adhere to the following guidelines:

• Departure time for students who opt-out will be 1:30 p.m. everyday, five days a week.
• Families will provide their own transportation for students at departure time. To reduce the loss of instructional time and create a manageable pick-up process, students will be dismissed from their classrooms and sent to the school office for dismissal. Students will then be picked up and signed out at the front office.
• Families will be required to indicate their intentions to participate in the opt-out provision during the May, 2013 Kindergarten orientation. This will provide the administration with the time necessary for making student class assignments with the opt-out numbers in place.
• Students can be removed from the opt-out provision at any time during the school year to participate in the full-day kindergarten program.

According to the document, which is attached as PDF to this article and is available on the Wilton Public Schools Web site, the administration's proposal would save over $150,000 due to the transportation costs associated with the school's extended day program and yield improved education outcomes for the students.

"As children have more time to engage in daily literacy and language instruction, they will demonstrate higher levels of reading and writing performance over time," the document states. "As a result, we expect a reduction in the number of students requiring intervention in first grade. We also anticipate that students will demonstrate greater readiness for the increased demands of the reading, writing, and mathematics first grade curriculum that is based on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and Wilton’s corresponding curriculum."

The proposal has been a source of contention in Wilton with parents siding strongly with one side or the other. An online petition was even created by a group of parents in an effort to delay the decision for another year.

"The BOE needs to listen to parents. The majority do not want full day kindergarten," Adam Droit wrote on Wilton Patch in response to this week's "From the Driver's Seat" column by Heather Borden Hervé. "At this age, children need to be with their caregiver going about routine engagements not spending the added time in the cafeteria or in front of a TV at school. There are studies indicating no additional benefits accrue to children moving to full time kindergarten."

NutmegMamma responded by stating that plenty of parents are in support of full day kindergarten. "I've also seen many studies that DO indicate additional benefits to a full day program. It's not a new concept, it's been tested in many other districts, states and countries, and it works well."

The BoE will be consider the proposal as an action item at its public meeting scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m.