State considering full-day kindergarten

Having kindergarteners go to school for a full day instead of half a day at public schools throughout Utah may become a reality in the not-so-distant future.

Members of the Utah Board of Education as well as concerned Cache County parents and educators throughout the state met in Logan Thursday, to discuss making full-day kindergarten an option.

“This is one of the most successful interventions and this may be the way education is headed in the future,” said Patti Harrington, superintendent for the Utah Board of Education.

Currently there are nine school districts in Utah that have already integrated full-day kindergarten and are seeing positive results from that change, said Paul Puzey, curriculum coordinator for the Utah State Office of Education.

Full-day kindergarten aims at helping at-risk children such as non-English speakers, as well as those who are not, said Mary Kay Kirkland, Box Elder School District assistant superintendent over curriculum.

Although no action was taken during the meeting, some members of the board are considering the idea of forming a 5-member committee to look at the issue a little closer, Harrington said.

But many parents don’t agree with implementing full-day kindergarten. Shelly Locke, Cache County Republican Party vice chair represented these parents during the meeting, saying children need to be with their mothers during the early years of their lives.

“The purpose of life is to protect the sanctity of life and these children are examples of that in its purest form,” Locke said. “All of us are deeply concerned about the government’s proposal for all day kindergarten.”

Gov. John Huntsman Jr.’s Working Group on Student Achievement, has been considering the idea in recent months but most likely no decisions will be made until January, Harrington said.

Elementary schools in the Box Elder School District implemented full-day kindergarten in 2003 and have seen numerous benefits from it, such as increased school readiness, higher academic achievement and improved attendance, Kirkland said.

“We had some parents who said this is such a good program for our kids,” Kirkland said. “This is a great option for us.”

Charles Hausman, superintendent for the Salt Lake School District said he also saw many of the same positive results.

“We’re closing gaps with everyone making progress,” Hausman said. “We have to say no to a lot of parents who want their kids in full-day kindergarten.”

Several parents who came to the meeting are not opposed to the idea of full day kindergarten just as long as it remains an option for parents.

“I came because I feel like children are emotionally not prepared to be away from their moms,” said Stephanie Watkins, a resident from Mendon who has two children who will be entering kindergarten in the future.

Jamiel Martin, another Mendon resident who currently has a child in kindergarten said she thinks it’s too much too soon, but if a child is at home watching television while her mother is at work, then it is a much better option.

-mmackay@cc.usu.edu