District may pay for all-day kindergarten

Parents may have the opportunity to send their children to full-day, tuition-free kindergarten classes starting in the upcoming school year.

The Maricopa Unified School District governing board is scheduled to vote Wednesday on offering free-all day kindergarten. The district started charging tuition to parents who enroll their child in the full-day kindergarten this school year. The state pays for half-day kindergarten.

“In 2014-15, we are able to spend the $235,000 we receive from the state for ‘Move on When Reading’ to pay for additional (kindergarten) teachers,” said Superintendent Steve Chestnut. “In 2013-14, we were not able to do this since our district grade was ‘C.’ Now that our district grade is ‘B,’ we have more flexibility to spend these funds.”

The district had 491 kindergarten students last year compared to 444 this year, Chestnut said. The tuition rate is $145 a month for nine months for a total of $1,305. Currently there are 13 half-day classes with 254 students and seven full-day classes with 190 students, he said.

Any shortfall between the Move on When Reading funds and the actual full-day cost will be paid out of the maintenance and operations part of the budget, Chestnut said. Last year the school board voted to offer tuition-based half-day because of budget constraints; for several years the district had footed the bill for free, full-day kindergarten.

An average kindergarten class size of 29 would be covered by the funding, he said. An average class size of 26 would cost an additional $50,000 for one additional teacher, and an average class size of 24 would cost an additional $150,000 for three additional teachers, he said.

“I am recommending to the governing board that they not make a final decision on the target for kindergarten class size at this time,” Chestnut said.

The board also will vote Wednesday on whether to approve the district’s gifted program design parameters.

For more information on these agenda items and others click here, go to “print agenda” and then click “detailed agenda.”

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Administration Building, 44150 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

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