Sisters will keep full-day kindergarten after legislature acts

Sisters will keep its full-day kindergarten thanks to a vote by the Oregon Legislature. Public schools may continue to charge tuition through June of 2010 for the half-day portion of full-day kindergarten that is not supported by state school funding.

The Oregon House gave final approval to Senate Bill 1068 on February 22. The new law overrules Oregon Assistant Attorney General Serena Hewitt's, November 30, 2007 opinion that school districts have no authority under state law to collect tuition.

Hewitt's ruling came as an outgrowth of a Corvallis parent's complaint that the charging of tuition by public school districts is unfair to low-income families, an argument founded on the Oregon Constitution's requirement for lawmakers to provide a "uniform" system of public education.

According to Chuck Bennett, director of governmental relations for the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators, the new law allowing parents to continue to pay tuition for kindergarten for two more years provides school districts a necessary bridge to decide what they will do in the future should the legislature rule that charging tuition is illegal.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo, a long-time supporter of all-day kindergarten, sees the new law as providing the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) the time to continue to encourage state legislators to fund all-day kindergarten.

"Superintendent Castillo continues to support and work for state funding for full-day kindergarten for all districts that want to offer it, and we are hopeful that the 2009 legislative session will see that come true," said Gene Evans, ODE's director of communications. "We (ODE) recognize the value of full-day kindergarten programs, and this change (allowing districts to continue to charge tuition) ensures continuity for current students."

The new law comes at a time when early education is repeatedly touted as crucial for future academic success. It also comes at a time when many working parents depend on full-day kindergarten.

For many parents the worry that school districts will stop offering full-day programs if the legislature rules they can no longer charge tuition after June 2010 is a much greater concern than is the cost of the tuition they are paying, said Bennett.

Educators contend that full-day kindergarten provides a relaxed and unhurried school day with more time for a variety of experiences, more opportunities for assessment and screening, as well as better atmosphere for quality interaction between the teacher and his or her students. Some studies also show that students who attend full-day kindergarten programs demonstrate academic advantages in comparison to their half-day kindergarten counterparts.

However, according to Evelyn Brush owner of Sisters A Joyful Noise Learning Center, schools do not follow through on these advantages in first grade by handling all-day and half-day kindergarteners differently.

"The biggest thing for me as an educator," said Brush, "is that the first grade curriculum is not altered whether the children have gone to all-day or half-day. Children whether they have attended half- or full-day programs are all mixed together in first grade."

Sisters may now continue its practice for two more years of collecting tuition of approximately $2,500 annually for students who attend all-day kindergarten. This year approximately 22 students are enrolled in the all-day program.

According to Sisters School District superintendent Elaine Drakulich, had the legislature not voted to allow school districts to charge tuition next year, Sisters would have found a way to continue to offer its all-day kindergarten class by attaching Title I dollars to fund the program.