St. Clair Shores

Shores schools in compliance with new kindergarten rule

By Kristyne E. Demske
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Erin Sanchez Kindergarten teacher Diane Koch reads “The Surprise” with Taylor Cole, right, and Andi Musaka, center. Photo by Erin Sanchez Kindergarten teacher Diane Koch reads “The Surprise” with Taylor Cole, right, and Andi Musaka, center. Photo by Erin Sanchez Charles Zalewski reads using a pointer in his full-day kindergarten class at Greenwood Elementary. Lakeview Public Schools offers only full-day classes, which schools across Michigan will have to provide to keep their full per-pupil funding for that grade. Photo by Erin Sanchez Kindergartner Cameron Beem looks for the letter “M” in his class at Greenwood Elementary School Feb. 6.

With kindergarten roundup on the horizon, local school districts say they’re poised to comply with new state legislation pushing them to full-day kindergarten.

“This current school year, all we have is full day,” said Debbie DePape, executive assistant to Lakeview Public Schools Superintendent Karl Paulson. “That was based on parent request.”

In September, public schools will have to offer full-day kindergarten to receive the entire per-pupil funding amount for each kindergartner. The rules were approved in 2011 by the state Legislature and will cut per-pupil funding in half for each half-day student.

But St. Clair Shores school districts shifted to full-day programs over the course of the past few years, as the programs became more popular among parents.

“We have only had full day for about five years now,” said South Lake Schools Superintendent Pam Balint. “We found that it was more of what our parents were requesting.”

The same answer was repeated in Lakeview and Lake Shore Public Schools, as well.

“We didn’t have enough parents that wanted half-day classes,” DePape said. “It’s not looking like this coming year’s going to be any different.”

In Lake Shore Public Schools, there is only one student currently taking advantage of half-day classes out of the 262 kindergartners in the district, said Chelsey Kuester, the district’s public relations liaison.

She said the district keeps the option open to parents and will continue to do so even with the new rules in place, as it affects so few students.

“We’ve offered full-day kindergarten for the past couple of years, and we’ll continue to offer half day,” she said. “Only about a handful of parents take the half day, and usually by the end of the first trimester, they switch to full day.”

She said there were six other half-day students earlier in the school year, but those students have all switched to the full-day program.

Balint said the move reflects parents’ preference, but also what students need.

“We have a lot of children coming to kindergarten (and), because of the economic situation at home, (the students) had not had the opportunity to be part of a quality preschool program,” she said. “It really does fill a need for your at-risk students.”

That educational foundation is needed for students to be successful in the future, she said.

“It gives you more time with them,” she said. “You really don’t have as much time in a half day.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Kristyne E. Demske at kdemske@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1041.