Board of Education members Donald O’Day, Michael McGovern, Mark Mathias and Jim Marpe listen to a speaker on the full-day kindergarten program during Monday’s school board meeting. The board voted in favor of the proposal. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jennifer Connic for WestportNow.com
By Jennifer Connic
Updated The Westport Board of Education Monday night voted in favor of a controversial proposal that has kindergarteners attending three full days of school and two extended days of school.
The board voted just before midnight 5-1 with one member abstaining. Kristin LaFleur voted against the proposal, and Mark Mathias abstained.
Students would attend three days of school from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. and attend school for two days when the day ends at 1:15 p.m. More than 100 people attended Monday’s hearing.
The controversial proposal provoked an outcry from some parents who said they don’t think many children could handle a full day of school. (See WestportNow Jan. 8, 2007) Some parents repeated their objections in comments before the board voted.
The vote came just before midnight after Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon told the board the proposal could net $390,000 in transportation savings
Landon unveiled for the first time that the proposal could net up to $390,000 in savings on transportation costs because an extra kindergarten run at 1:15 p.m. would not be necessary three times per week.
“We built our arguments for the need for full-day kindergarten around educational reasons and did not want to confuse them with economical issues,” he said. “Five years ago we were accused of proposing full-day kindergarten for the savings.”
Nancy Harris, assistant superintendent for business, said administrators wanted the board to consider the proposal budget-neutral because there are a number of separate options to consider with transportation.
The board will have to consider about the buses being available in the middle of the afternoon for early dismissals and in case of a crisis, she said.
“There are a whole bunch of other issues,” she said. “Whether these will be paper or real savings is a separate discussion.”
Michael McGovern, a board member, said there is nothing wrong with saving money, but he wished he had known about the potential savings a week ago when the board reviewed, cut and approved its 2007-08 proposed budget.
Landon said he couldn’t tell the board a week ago because he did not have the final figures for the transportation savings until the last few days.
Parents again renewed their concerns about the proposal.
Nancy Shapiro, who has two kindergartners at Saugatuck Elementary, said kindergarten is full of time for play and should not be like what happens in the older grades with more structured learning.
The proposal would take away the kindergarten teachers from giving support in those older grades, she said, and she is concerned about that.
John Rabo said there has been no willingness from the administration to consider other options and seek compromise.
“I don’t understand why it has to be all or nothing,” he said.
Martina Pepin, whose son is 4, said she would hold him back, and she is concerned about what her 9-month-old son will face when he enters school.
“Will there still be choice time five years from now?” she asked. “Or will there be something new? I think this is a lead-in for a five-day progam.”
There were parents who spoke in favor of the full-day program.
Megan Restieri, whose son will enter kindergarten this fall, said the majority of the people at the meetings oppose full-day kindergarten, but there are more parents who do not attend who favor it.
“We’re leaving it to the Board of Education and the administration to make the decision for us,” she said. “There are othe people like me out there.”
I thought I had misunderstood Dr. Landon’s comments regarding transport savings when I attended the BOE meeting last night. However, the above article and other attendees confirm what I thought I heard.
Dr. Landon claimed that for each day in the week in which there were not separate afternoon runs for kindergateners, Westport would save $130, 000 (thus savings of $390,000 for three full days or $650,000 for five full days). The 2007-2008 budget allocates under $2.8 million for ALL “regular” school bus runs. His analysis thus implies that 23% of the budget is allocated to transporting kindergarten students just ONE time per day. Given that kindergarten accounts for only one out of thirteen classes in K-12, these kids must be getting a really nice bus ride. Maybe I’m missing something but it would have been reassuring if the BOE had probed on this.
I wish every member of the board gave it more thought before voting. In the end, their minds were already made up regardless of what anyone presented or said. Many legitimate questions remained unanswered and the board, with the exception of Kristin and Mark, just took what the administration said at face value and never really questioned the reason or rationale given. No matter what questions were posed the panel had a ready and quick answer, not based on any data or study, but opinion, speculation and wishful thinking.
In addition, it was truly surprising how little the administrators were willing not to work on alternative ways to lessen the hurried schedule they have implemented. They showed a real lack of unwillingness and creativity to consider any other option. They just told the board,