Another Look at the Batavia Kindergarten Program Options

The Batavia School Board later this month will hear more about four options for the school district’s kindergarten program.

voted 5-2 in favor of having school officials reevaluate and develop cost estimates for the options. These were called Alternatives 3, 5, 6 and 7 at the meeting. These options are detailed for you below.

The Board is trying to find a solution to parent concerns over the recently changed kindergarten program. Parents say the changes shorten the amount and quality of instruction the students receive, specifically in art, music and physical education.

“We wanted to see (alternatives) 3 or 4,” said Kristina Hunecke, a parent with kindergarteners at . “What we've always wanted is in the best interest of the kids in half-day kindergarten.”

Hunecke to share her concerns about the kindergarten changes. On Aug. 23 she and four other parents addressed board members, including her husband Chris Hunecke.

The kindergarten changes are a result of the district cutting the elementary Spanish program.

The kindergarten program is now 15 minutes shorter this year than it was last year. The time for the a.m. (morning) version of the program goes from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and the p.m. (afternoon) version of the program goes from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The subjects of art, music and P.E. are now being taught by classroom teachers, but before they used to be taught by building specialists in those topics.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Kindergarten Program Options

After the Aug. 23 School Board meeting, here are the four options board members want reevaluated. Please note: All of these were labeled as “Alternatives” in public school board documents and referred to as “Alternatives” during the Aug. 23 School Board meeting.

Alternative #: 3

Details: Restore the 15 minutes cut out of the kindergarten program.

This would change the times back to 9 a.m.-11:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

Part-time certified staff would be hired to travel between buildings to provide art, music and P.E. using specialists.

Budget Cost: $51,000

Discussion on Alternative #3:

Some of the parents support Alternative 3 and mentioned it during the public comment portion of the Aug. 23 Batavia School Board meeting.

Alternative 3 address both the quantitative and the qualitative issues with the kindergarten program, said Greg Romaneck, the district’s human resources director, at the meeting.

Board President Ron Link supported alternative #3, saying it solved issues of equity and time. He supported finding a place to take the $51,000 that it would cost to provide that option.

“I think we need to look at alternative 3,” Link said during the meeting. “That’s a 9,000 cost per building. “(Then) we need to look at how we will run the program next year.”

Board member Kathleen Roberts also supported this option.

Jack Barshinger, Batavia superintendent, warned against spending more on programs while the district still has a $2.4 million deficit. The decision to spend this year will make cuts more difficult next year, he said.

“Yes, we can find $51,000, but it’s money we don’t have,” Barshinger said. “Then next year you have to cut $102,000. You’re just deferring the hard decision.”

Alternative #: 5

Details: District keeps current kindergarten time and program and eliminates specialists teaching art, music, and P.E. from the after-school enrichment program.

Non-certified staff will be used to provide additional supervision to enrichment program students during the break between a.m. and p.m. kindergarten programs.

Budget Cost: $10,200, charged to parents with students in after-school enrichment program

Discussion on Alternative #5:

Romaneck said Alternative 5 provides an extension of some supervised activity, and it addresses equity between the regular and enrichment programs.

Board member Cathy Dremel said this option takes away specialized learning from the enrichment students and it will end up costing more to make the change.

Alternative #: 6

Note: This alternative was not part of the original group of five that district officials submitted to the school board. This is an alternative that Board Vice President Jack Hinterlong proposed during the meeting.

Details: District provides specialists for both the regular kindergarten and after-school enrichment program.

Both programs would see an overall reduced amount of time spent with the specialists.

The kindergarten program would likely be maintained from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Discussion on Alternative #6:

“This would be offering some (specialized teaching), not as much,” Barshinger said at the meeting.

To provide teachers with their previously agreed-upon prep time, Hinterlong suggested placing the students in a learning resource center with another teacher, staff member or adult. This would give students learning time and the regular teachers their allotted prep time.

Link, already in support of Alternative #3, said he would be unable to support Alternative #6.

Alternative #: 7

Details: The current programming (changed after the 2010-11 school year) is what was referred to as alternative #7 towards the end of the meeting as discussion concluded.

Regular kindergarten would remain with the 15 minutes cut. The time for the a.m. (morning) version of the program stays from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and the p.m. (afternoon) version of the program stays from 1 p.m. to 3:30 pm.

Students in the regular kindergarten program would receive art, music and physical education lessons from regular kindergarten teachers (not specialists).

Students in the after-school enrichment program would receive art, music and physical education lessons from specialists.

Discussion on Alternative #7:

Parents have already expressed their opposition to the current program format.

Romaneck said kindergarten principals expressed an interest in keeping the program in its current format. Specific principals were not mentioned.

Note: Board members voted to eliminate Alternatives #1, 2 and 4 from their discussion. To read about those options, click here for the original School Board list of alternatives.

Board Turns Critical Eye to After-School Enrichment Program

After board members decide what to do about kindergarten programming for this school year, the discussion about changes for next year could start as early as this month.

Board member Joe Purpura said during the meeting that he sees no point in having the after-school enrichment program as it’s currently structured. A parent had described the enrichment program to him as a place for practice and reinforcement of concepts learned during the regular kindergarten program.

“What we’re finding in this is that we can’t please everyone in the community that wants this program,” Link said.

Link said the district attempted to provide a community service with the enrichment program, but it’s not working for all families.

“We have spent hours on this,” Link said. “The parents have spent hours on this. And no one’s happy.”

How Did We Get to This Point?

The district has one kindergarten program available for students that lasts half a day. Parents can choose to enroll their children in the morning version of the kindergarten program, or the afternoon version of the program.

Those that have kindergarten in the morning have the option of enrolling their children in the after-school enrichment program. The enrichment program is an optional program at an extra cost, $250 a month max, where kindergarteners receive additional instruction for the remainder of the afternoon, or what is traditionally the second half of the school day for first through fifth graders.   

In order for a child to remain at an elementary school all day, parents have to make sure their child is enrolled in the morning kindergarten program and also pay for the enrichment program. While these programming options ensure that a kindergartener remains in school all day, the district does not call this a full-day kindergarten program.

Parents say when they made the decision to just do morning or afternoon kindergarten for the 2011-12 school year, and not pay for enrichment, it was made with the assumption that their children would receive instruction in art, music and physical education from specialized instructors.

In May, the district announced that due to budget cuts the elementary Spanish program would be eliminated. This forced the schools to rearrange their programs. The result was that the kindergarten students would no longer received specialized instruction from music, art and physical education. Instead their regular kindergarten teacher would integrate those topics into the students’ day.

However, students that were in the enrichment program would still receive the specialized instruction in music, art and P.E. The argument is that the parents are paying for the specialists through the after-school enrichment program fee.

Parents were opposed to the change, saying that the removal of specialists diminished the quality of learning for their students. They said it provided less time and made the level of learning unequal between those students just in the regular kindergarten program and those students who were in the kindergarten program as well as the after-school enrichment program.

After hearing the parent’s concerns, the School Board requested the alternatives from district leaders.

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