School Board Puts Off Decision on Full-Day Kindergarten in Barrington

The School Committee deferred making a decision on full-day kindergarten for Barrington on Thursday night. 

The board deferred the decision to its next meeting on May 16 even with a recommendation from Superintendent Michael Messore that it put off starting all-day kindergarten for another year.

The board also put off making a decision after listening to several members of the subcommittee that assessed all-day kindergarten plead with them to start the program in September.

In the meantime, there appears to be a possibility that the Committee on Appropriations may sit down with the School Committee before the Financial Town Meeting to work out some compromise over the COA-proposed school budget that leaves the schools about $277,000 short of what the board believes it needs for technology and implementation of the Common Core curriculum next year. 

That proposed budget also leaves the schools about $492,000 short of the $633,000 estimate put together by the administration to start all-day kindergarten. About $141,000 was put into the budget as a “placeholder” before the subcommittee completed its analysis. 

Joel Hellmann, a member of the COA, said he was asked by Kathy Cadigan, the COA chair, to attend the meeting and deliver a message to School Committee Chair Robert Shea Jr. to call her to discuss another possible joint meeting. 

From comments made by the five School Committee members, it seems that at least three of them are leaning toward starting a full-day kindergarten program in September – primarily because the current half-day program would compromise the children’s education under the Common Core being implemented in the schools. 

“Those kids will be playing catch-up if we don’t do it next year,” said Patrick Guida.

Paula Dillon, curriculum director for the schools, agreed with Guida although she thinks some of what the kids miss out on could still be incorporated into the half-day program. 

School Committee member Paula Dominguez said: “We will not be able to cover all the Common Core requirements in a half day. It’s amazing in the 21st century that Barrington doesn’t already have all-day kindergarten.”

School Committee Vice Chair Kate Brody said: “We have a Strategic Plan that articulates our needs for all-day kindergarten.”

Shea appears to be on the fence about starting full-day kindergarten next year because it could mean compromising the district’s ability to fund technology and Common Core needs without additional money. 

School Committee member Scott Fuller said he doesn’t support starting the program now because the schools simply don’t have enough money to fund it this year with the need for technology and Common Core spending.

He also said he has some real concerns about the estimate to start the program. 

“It exploded to $633,000” after the school committee sent its budget to the COA for review and after the board voted on the new teacher contract, he said. 

“We got the all-day kindergarten information very late,” he said. “The $141,000 was given to us and I thought it was reliable. Half a million dollars is a huge amount of money to drop on us at that point.” 

Guida said he never believed that $141,000 would be enough to start full-day kindergarten. Fuller countered that the School Committee, therefore, was making decisions with unreliable information.

“There are too many unanswered questions,” he said. “I want to be ready. I don’t want a rush to judgment.” 

Messore said the full-day kindergarten subcommittee “unanimously supports the need for all-day kindergarten.” But he recommended putting it off for another year to collect more data on enrollment and to further survey the need in the community. 

“I want to assure its success,” he said. “I recommend we put it off a year.”

Messore said the $633,000 cost to start all-day kindergarten includes the need to hire 5 more teachers and 5 more classroom aides at an approximate cost of $373,000. Bussing may also increase by around $90,000 a year, he said. There is no need to build or refurbish classrooms.

Nayatt and Primrose Hill schools would have 4 sections of kindergarten each. Sowams would have 3 sections. The number of kindergarten pupils is estimated at approximately 210 to 220 next year. 

Among the subcommittee members and parents to speak out in favor of all-day kindergarten was Ivy Rollins Milliken. She referred to the online petition in favor of full-day kindergarten that had about 300 signatures by late yesterday. 

“The community is behind this,” she said. “Barrington is one of only eight districts in Rhode Island without full-day kindergarten. And the cost is less than two percent of the budget. Half-day kindergarten is an antiquated model and no longer an education best practice. This cannot wait.”

Another parent, Chris Adams, said: “I don’t want my five-year-old to fall behind.”