Post by gatordog on Feb 28, 2010 20:17:11 GMT -5
I found a story from another district (Palos Heights), related to how much All-Day Kindegarten actually costs. The key thing in this story is the SD is willing to pay for the regular half-day for all students, and then parents kick in tuition for full day, should they chose that option.
For kindergartners' full day, parents will pay
Palos district offers full-day kindergarten - at a cost
February 26, 2010
BY KATE MCCANN
Maria Koeppen's daughter's birthday falls about two weeks after the Sept. 1 cutoff for kids entering kindergarten at Illinois public schools.
So when she was nearly 7 years old, she was still in kindergarten, attending school for 2 1/2 hours a day.
"By the time they get their coats off and boots off and eat a snack, you learn the letter 'A' and it's, 'Have a good day,' " said Koeppen, whose son and daughter attend Indian Hills School in Palos Heights.
Parents in Palos Heights School District 128 for years have rallied for a full day of kindergarten.
District officials say they can afford to pay for only half a day, especially as they weather the economic crisis.
So they have offered a solution to a common problem in Illinois' cash-strapped school districts: requiring parents to pay tuition.
For $2,400 a year, parents could send their children to kindergarten full time starting this fall, provided enough parents commit to the program. The school will still cover half the day's cost. The second portion of the day will be an extension of topics covered in the first, such as art and music.
By comparison, Trinity Lutheran School in Tinley Park charges $3,070 a year for half-day kindergarten to nonmembers of the congregation, and St. Bernadette School in Evergreen Park charges nearly $3,000. Both rates include school fees.
'Tough economic time'
District 128 administrators have shied from calling the pilot program "full-day kindergarten," because, they say, that implies the district will cover 100 percent of the cost.
"It's a tough economic time, and we certainly wish we could afford to provide it without any extra fees," Indian Hills Principal Cathy Leslie said.
Indian Hills is annually reimbursed $175 per kindergartner from the state, while other less-affluent south suburban districts receive as much as $6,000 per student under a state aid formula based on the district's property wealth. GD quest: where does 204 fit on the state aid formula scale?
"Because of our local revenues, we do not get that (higher) funding," District 128 Supt. Kathleen Casey said.
The Indian Hills program would be labeled an enrichment program, meaning it does not rely on state funding, so implementing it is a local decision made by the district, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Parents such as Koeppen want the program because they say their children are bored at home after such a short school day, and a longer period of instruction might better prepare them for first grade.
Other parents want a full day because they prefer their children to stay in the same location with the same teacher, instead of being bused in the middle of the day to a private kindergarten or day care center.
More parents needed
District officials believe the Indian Hills kindergarten would be the first of its kind in the Southland, although the idea has been tried at schools in the northern suburbs. The school needs a minimum of 20 parents to commit to the program, with a $200 deposit by March 5. So far, 13 parents have signed on.
Other area schools, including those in Orland School District 135 in Orland Park and Mokena School District 159, have recently been forced to scale back to part-time kindergarten as the state struggles to keep current on its payments to schools.
Nearly 74 percent of kindergartners in Illinois public schools attend full-time kindergarten, and 78 percent of school districts offer it, according to the state board.
For kindergartners' full day, parents will pay
Palos district offers full-day kindergarten - at a cost
February 26, 2010
BY KATE MCCANN
Maria Koeppen's daughter's birthday falls about two weeks after the Sept. 1 cutoff for kids entering kindergarten at Illinois public schools.
So when she was nearly 7 years old, she was still in kindergarten, attending school for 2 1/2 hours a day.
"By the time they get their coats off and boots off and eat a snack, you learn the letter 'A' and it's, 'Have a good day,' " said Koeppen, whose son and daughter attend Indian Hills School in Palos Heights.
Parents in Palos Heights School District 128 for years have rallied for a full day of kindergarten.
District officials say they can afford to pay for only half a day, especially as they weather the economic crisis.
So they have offered a solution to a common problem in Illinois' cash-strapped school districts: requiring parents to pay tuition.
For $2,400 a year, parents could send their children to kindergarten full time starting this fall, provided enough parents commit to the program. The school will still cover half the day's cost. The second portion of the day will be an extension of topics covered in the first, such as art and music.
By comparison, Trinity Lutheran School in Tinley Park charges $3,070 a year for half-day kindergarten to nonmembers of the congregation, and St. Bernadette School in Evergreen Park charges nearly $3,000. Both rates include school fees.
'Tough economic time'
District 128 administrators have shied from calling the pilot program "full-day kindergarten," because, they say, that implies the district will cover 100 percent of the cost.
"It's a tough economic time, and we certainly wish we could afford to provide it without any extra fees," Indian Hills Principal Cathy Leslie said.
Indian Hills is annually reimbursed $175 per kindergartner from the state, while other less-affluent south suburban districts receive as much as $6,000 per student under a state aid formula based on the district's property wealth. GD quest: where does 204 fit on the state aid formula scale?
"Because of our local revenues, we do not get that (higher) funding," District 128 Supt. Kathleen Casey said.
The Indian Hills program would be labeled an enrichment program, meaning it does not rely on state funding, so implementing it is a local decision made by the district, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Parents such as Koeppen want the program because they say their children are bored at home after such a short school day, and a longer period of instruction might better prepare them for first grade.
Other parents want a full day because they prefer their children to stay in the same location with the same teacher, instead of being bused in the middle of the day to a private kindergarten or day care center.
More parents needed
District officials believe the Indian Hills kindergarten would be the first of its kind in the Southland, although the idea has been tried at schools in the northern suburbs. The school needs a minimum of 20 parents to commit to the program, with a $200 deposit by March 5. So far, 13 parents have signed on.
Other area schools, including those in Orland School District 135 in Orland Park and Mokena School District 159, have recently been forced to scale back to part-time kindergarten as the state struggles to keep current on its payments to schools.
Nearly 74 percent of kindergartners in Illinois public schools attend full-time kindergarten, and 78 percent of school districts offer it, according to the state board.
