School Board Approves Full-Day Kindergarten With Cash Condition

Full-day kindergarten will start in Barrington next fall with a condition – sufficient cash can be found in the school budget to fund it with or without the $633,000 amendment to go before voters at the Financial Town Meeting next week.

A vote in favor of the amendment, of course, would certainly make that task much easier. 

The School Committee voted 3-2 Thursday night to move forward with all-day kindergarten in September. 

The nay votes were cast by Scott Fuller, who supports the superintendent’s recommendation to wait a year, and Paula Dominguez, who supports starting all-day kindergarten no matter what.

“I can’t believe we can’t find money in a $46 million budget,” said Dominguez. “I support all-day kindergarten, not this motion. I think there is room in the budget to support it.” 

Fuller said he supports Superintendent Michael Messore’s recommendation to wait a year because he is the educational expert and because of “a flawed budget process” this year that saw the estimated expense for full-day kindergarten not show up until after the proposed budget was sent to the Committee on Appropriations.

Patrick Guida made the motion to start all-day kindergarten with the financial condition. Vice Chair Kate Brody seconded the motion. 

“I am not prepared to allow this kindergarten cohort to go another year without full-day kindergarten,” Guida said. “We’re sacrificing that cohort if we do. We need to implement it and do what we need to do.” 

He referred specifically to the district-wide implementation of Common Core standards next year that would leave those pupils a year behind if they do not attend kindergarten all day. And there is nothing that the district can do to make up what they will lose, he said.

Paula Dillon, director of curriculum, answering a question from Guida, agreed that there is no way anything could be done to make up what those children will lose. 

Brody said: “I agree that we have a responsibility to deliver the appropriate educational foundation for these children. We need to do as much as we can to move this program forward. We need to consider end-of-the-year savings as well.”

School Committee Chair Robert Shea Jr. turned out to be the swing vote.

“I support the motion,” he said. “I am concerned, though, that this has the potential to impact other programs in the Strategic Plan.  I’m not convinced we can find money in the budget for this.” 

Shea’s concern actually seemed to push Guida into amending his original motion to move forward by attaching the condition.

“I’m willing to add the amendment to my motion that we wouldn’t do it without funds being found or the Financial Town Meeting approve the amendment to the budget,” he said.

“That sets up a contentious Financial Town Meeting,” said Dominguez. “We need to find money in the existing budget.” 

Dominguez actually asked Finance Director Ron Tarro before the all-day kindergarten issue came up on the agenda to explain the schools’ financial condition this year.

Tarro said it appears that there will be up to a $450,000 surplus (undesignated fund balance) at the end of this year.

Surpluses are typically the norm for the schools, which then transfers that cash to the capital school improvement fund. That fund already has a balance of $433,000 from past years’ surpluses, Tarro said.