Parents Ask Warsaw to Keep half-Day Kindergarten
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Michelle Yeager, April Nelson and Brooke Friedberg thanked the board for offering the half-day kindergarten option. Friedberg said it’s been amazing for her daughter, and parents who are able really like picking their child up at noon.
Though only a handful of students are enrolled in half-day kindergarten at Warsaw Community Schools, Friedberg said it’s important to those parents with students in it.
Nelson said she’s helped start a Facebook page called “Warsaw Half-Day Kindergarten.”
She also said parents have been told different things, like WCS is not going to offer half-day kindergarten, or the school system wasn’t sure for how long it would be available. The location site was also questionable as one parent heard the half-day program would be at Claypool or Leesburg elementaries so decided not to enroll their child in it.
Chief Academics Officer David Hoffert later stated that he’s not sure why Claypool or Leesburg were mentioned. The schools do however have preschool programs.
Yeager said parents need consistent information on the program, and liked it being held at Washington Elementary.
Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz said the school district was open to keeping half-day kindergarten available as long as the numbers are there to do it.
As of last Thursday, Hintz said, WCS had only six students enrolled in the program for next year. Over the weekend, that increased to nine.
This year, the half-day program had 20 kindergartners enrolled. “We’re looking for a number between 18 to 20 because of the size of other kindergarten classes,” Hintz stated.
He said they know Washington is the preferred location for the program, but that will depend on how the numbers shake out. It may have to be at another location, but it will be centrally located.
Dan Metzger, board member, asked how much WCS is reimbursed for students in half-day kindergarten. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said $2,750 per student, which is half the reimbursement WCS gets for a regular student.
Metzger then asked how much a teacher gets paid. After Scott suggested that conversation be held “offline,” Metzger reminded him it is public information. Then Metzger asked if it takes more than nine students to cover the cost of a teacher. Scott confirmed it does.
Hintz said Warsaw needs to know by sometime in mid-May how many half-day kindergartners they will have for the 2013-14 school year.
A parent then suggested more information be put on WCS’s website about the half-day kindergarten program, and Hintz said they could do that.
At one point, one of the parents said she heard there was a kindergarten class at Madison with only 12 students in it. Later in the meeting, Hintz pointed out that Madison had 85 kindergartners, averaging 21 students in each of the four classrooms. Based on that information, Hintz said it’s just not the case that Madison has a kindergarten class with only 12 children.
The other patron to speak to the board was Linda Russell, who also is an employee of WCS.
She told the board that they need paper agendas for the patrons who attend the meeting. Previously, the board made paper agendas available to patrons as they walked in. Now, however, the agenda is shown on a screen during the meeting except when the screen is in use.
Russell also said the agenda could be put on both sides of the paper.
Metzger said he was the one pushing for the board to go paperless. The agenda is available online at BoardDocs at http://www.boarddocs.com/in/warsaw/Board.nsf/Public#
Russell responded that not everyone goes online or can go online before a meeting to get the agenda. As much paper as the school district uses, printing a few agendas double-sided wasn’t a big deal, she stated. The paper agendas help people know what’s coming up on the agenda and where they’re at in the agenda.[[In-content Ad]]
Michelle Yeager, April Nelson and Brooke Friedberg thanked the board for offering the half-day kindergarten option. Friedberg said it’s been amazing for her daughter, and parents who are able really like picking their child up at noon.
Though only a handful of students are enrolled in half-day kindergarten at Warsaw Community Schools, Friedberg said it’s important to those parents with students in it.
Nelson said she’s helped start a Facebook page called “Warsaw Half-Day Kindergarten.”
She also said parents have been told different things, like WCS is not going to offer half-day kindergarten, or the school system wasn’t sure for how long it would be available. The location site was also questionable as one parent heard the half-day program would be at Claypool or Leesburg elementaries so decided not to enroll their child in it.
Chief Academics Officer David Hoffert later stated that he’s not sure why Claypool or Leesburg were mentioned. The schools do however have preschool programs.
Yeager said parents need consistent information on the program, and liked it being held at Washington Elementary.
Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz said the school district was open to keeping half-day kindergarten available as long as the numbers are there to do it.
As of last Thursday, Hintz said, WCS had only six students enrolled in the program for next year. Over the weekend, that increased to nine.
This year, the half-day program had 20 kindergartners enrolled. “We’re looking for a number between 18 to 20 because of the size of other kindergarten classes,” Hintz stated.
He said they know Washington is the preferred location for the program, but that will depend on how the numbers shake out. It may have to be at another location, but it will be centrally located.
Dan Metzger, board member, asked how much WCS is reimbursed for students in half-day kindergarten. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said $2,750 per student, which is half the reimbursement WCS gets for a regular student.
Metzger then asked how much a teacher gets paid. After Scott suggested that conversation be held “offline,” Metzger reminded him it is public information. Then Metzger asked if it takes more than nine students to cover the cost of a teacher. Scott confirmed it does.
Hintz said Warsaw needs to know by sometime in mid-May how many half-day kindergartners they will have for the 2013-14 school year.
A parent then suggested more information be put on WCS’s website about the half-day kindergarten program, and Hintz said they could do that.
At one point, one of the parents said she heard there was a kindergarten class at Madison with only 12 students in it. Later in the meeting, Hintz pointed out that Madison had 85 kindergartners, averaging 21 students in each of the four classrooms. Based on that information, Hintz said it’s just not the case that Madison has a kindergarten class with only 12 children.
The other patron to speak to the board was Linda Russell, who also is an employee of WCS.
She told the board that they need paper agendas for the patrons who attend the meeting. Previously, the board made paper agendas available to patrons as they walked in. Now, however, the agenda is shown on a screen during the meeting except when the screen is in use.
Russell also said the agenda could be put on both sides of the paper.
Metzger said he was the one pushing for the board to go paperless. The agenda is available online at BoardDocs at http://www.boarddocs.com/in/warsaw/Board.nsf/Public#
Russell responded that not everyone goes online or can go online before a meeting to get the agenda. As much paper as the school district uses, printing a few agendas double-sided wasn’t a big deal, she stated. The paper agendas help people know what’s coming up on the agenda and where they’re at in the agenda.[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092