The General Assembly is adding more state money to beef up full-day kindergarten, but local school officials say it still not enough to cover every child.
“School students are the big winners in the Indiana Senate’s proposed $28.2 billion two-year budget with $150 million being added for full-day kindergarten, FDK,” and other state educational objectives, according to a statement from Indiana Senate Republicans.
The announcement followed on the heels of a release from the Indiana Department of Education that stated: “The governor’s full-day kindergarten grants currently reach about 75 percent of all FDK students. The proposed increase to the FDK grant program would serve the remaining 25 percent of students, ensuring all Indiana school districts can provide FDK access.”
But local districts say the extra money wouldn’t do the trick.
“Right now, today, sitting here, this means 20 additional dollars per student but it’s not a significant enough amount that changes our situation,” said Joel Martin, Oak Hill United School Corporation superintendent.
Administrators are skeptical.
“The governor wanted people to think that full-day kindergarten would be fully funded,” said Michael Powell, superintendent of Mississinewa Community Schools. “But that’s not the case.”
Kindergarten attendance is not required in Indiana. Therefore, the state has only funded students who attend for a half-day. The FDK grant was designed to prompt schools to sponsor full-day programs and help offset the costs.
“Our basic support per student is $5,902,” said John Trout, Madison-Grant United superintendent.
A kindergarten student’s family brings in half of that or $2,951. Currently, the full day grant provides an additional $1,030. The governor’s proposal — if the budget is passed Friday — would add $20 to that grant.
“That means we get $4001, so I’m short about $2000,” Trout said.
Powell had calculated his district’s losses even further.
“We’re looking at needing about $300,000 from the governor to fully fund full-day kindergarten each year. With what we’re looking at we’ll be getting about $60,000,” he said.
All of the schools in Grant County that offer kindergarten support a full-day program and some continue to offer parents the option of placing their children half-day and officials say they knew they would not be fully funded when they first offered FDK.
“We jumped into it and they didn’t follow through with the funding. I’m a proponent of all day kindergarten and we need to have students be on course and read to by the first and second grade,” Superintendent Jerry Harshman, Eastbrook Community Schools, said.
All of the area superintendents echoed Harshman’s statement.
“We just felt it was an important component of our education system. The sooner you start off, the better students they will be. We think it’s worth the money and we’re hoping that in the next seven or eight years it will pay off,” Powell said.
Officials said no matter how much the grant increased it was a positive step.
“We’re pleased with a little bump,” Marion Community Schools Superintendent Steve Edwards said. “It is a little bump. I commend the governor for the $150 million infusion into public school education. For schools that weren’t offering full-day kindergarten, it was a significant step, but it wasn’t for us because we’re already offering it.”
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