School Superintendent Jeremy Ray said Monday that, although the School Committee has yet to make a decision, school officials are considering getting rid of the Kick Start Kindergarten program, a two-year kindergarten tract for students who may not be ready for first grade.
Students may be placed in the program for any number of reasons. It could be they are younger than most others in the classroom, are not ready to meet regular kindergarten expectations, lack confidence or prefer to play rather than learn.
Other reasons could be more developmentally-driven, such as not having adequate reading or fine motor skills. The program, according to kindergarten school John F. Kennedy Memorial School website, is a developmentally-based program and is not considered a retention.
“We haven’t really made a decision yet,” Ray said Monday. “We’re looking at adding pre-kindergarten and we have to make sure that we have equalized class sizes, so we will work with parents to see what the transition is going to look like.”
Ray said elimination of the program would make room for a pre-kindergarten program, which Ray said his proposed $35.7 million school budget could create for 96 students.
A pre-k program could serve a similar purpose to the first year of the KSK program, during which students attend a less rigorous, more individualized class to help them grow intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically.
“You can’t have all programs,” Ray said. “Pre-k is extremely important. We understand why some parents want second year kindergarten but there could be other ways to make those adjustments to students.
“We have to look at what’s appropriate for all students,” he said.
Some parents have expressed their dissatisfaction with both Ray and the School Committee, saying the two-year tract is beneficial for students who aren’t ready to advance to first grade.
“These are smart children that are catching up to their slightly older and more mature peer group. I have no doubt that all of them would be academically capable in first grade. However, will they be socially and emotionally ready for first grade?” one concerned parent wrote in an email.
“Please do the right thing and fulfill your obligation to these children, you owe that to them.”
Mayor Alan Casavant, who is also the chair of the School Committee, said in an email Tuesday he has full confidence in Ray and other school officials to do what they feel is right for the district’s children.
“Jeremy has been on top of (the) situation and has been working with parents, providing possible options and discussing the rationale,” Casavant said. “I think that we’ll find a solution that works for everyone.”
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].
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