School District Looking For Parent Comments On Full-Day Kindergarten

By Eliza Hallabeck

For the second year, the Newtown Public School District is looking for parent feedback on the question of implementing full-day kindergarten by asking parents to fill out an online survey on the district’s website, www.newtown.k12.ct.us. The survey will remain on the site until December 10.

 “We want to capture the most current information that we can,” said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Gejda.

Last year’s survey had roughly 86 percent of the 421 question responders say they would be interested in having their child attend full-day kindergarten in the Newtown Public Schools. Dr Gejda said last year’s survey results had a glitch, because the survey was posted for two hours without the question in the survey. This year, she said, everything was posted online smoothly.

At the Board of Education’s last meeting, on Tuesday, November 16, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson gave a presentation on space needs and costs that could be associated with full-day kindergarten for the next school year.

Using adjusted projection enrollment figures, provided by H.C. Planning Consultants Inc of Orange, for the 2010-2011 school year, Dr Robinson said the district would need a total of eight new kindergarten teachers to provide full-day kindergarten to the town. The eight new hires, she said, would be offset by the removal of two teachers from the elementary schools level in next year’s budget, due to a projected decline in enrollment. Full-day kindergarten, she said, would also eliminate the need for the midday bus run that transports morning kindergarteners and afternoon kindergarteners to and from school, a cost of $276,794. With eliminating the midday bus run and other reductions Dr Robinson the net cost for implementing full-day kindergarten next school year could be $307,398.

This year’s survey asks parents to answer whether they have a child in Newtown Public Schools, have a child entering kindergarten in the next three years, would be interested in having their child attend full-day kindergarten in the school district, and, when enrolled, where their child would attend kindergarten.