Schools

No Decision Yet On Batavia Kindergarten Changes, School Board To Revisit in Sept.

The Batavia School Board discussed program options for over 90 minutes at its Tuesday night meeting. Five parents spoke at the meeting and shared their top choices for their children.

The Batavia School Board needs more time to figure out what, if any, changes should be made to the kindergarten program to address parent concerns.

The School Board voted 5-2 Tuesday night to have district leaders review and research four options for the kindergarten program.

The board is looking at alternatives for kindergarteners to address issues raised by parents. Some parents said that recent program changes give their kids less time and lower-quality instruction for music, art and physical education.

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The parents were glad board members took the time to discuss the options, and hope the board selects an option that is fair to the students. One of the options they want to see enacted is still on the table.

“Our support has always been with the kindergarten teachers,” said parent Kristina Hunecke. “We feel they're fully qualified but it's not the same as having specialized (instruction)."

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Before the 2011-12 school year, all kindergarteners learned music, art and physical education from teachers that specialized in those topics. But after budget cuts, the regular kindergarten teachers this year are the ones teaching these three subjects to students.

The only way for students to be taught by those specialized teachers at this time is if they are already enrolled in this year's kindergarten after-school enrichment program. Parents are concerned about the different amount and quality of teaching between those who are 1) in the regular kindergarten program and 2) those who are in enrolled in both the regular kindergarten and the after-school enrichment program. 

The kindergarten after-school enrichment program is optional. Parent who want their children in the program have to pay an extra fee.

The regular kindergarten and after-school enrichment programs might change again in the fall after the board members discuss the remaining program options. One of the options would give all students the specialized instruction, another option would take the specialized instruction away from all the kindergarteners.

 Board members plan to discuss the updated information about the kindergarten program at its Sept. 13 meeting. The board decided to eliminate three options from the original list of five proposed.

The school board says once this year’s issue with kindergarten is resolved, there are still larger issues with the after-school enrichment program that would have to be addressed later this year.


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