The all-day kindergarten discussion within the River Forest Public School District 90 board of education has been tabled until next year, due in part to the upcoming implementation of new national curriculum standards, and in part to the forthcoming arrival of a new superintendent.
“The reasons were twofold,” said Juli Geldner, board president, explaining why the board voted to table the discussion until next school year at a recent meeting. “The first reason was because the common cores standards came out. And those are essentially youth educational standards across curriculum. So they will have an impact on what needs to be taught at each level.”
Geldner said that those requirements, which are part of a national effort to arm students in kindergarten through eighth grade with learning techniques that will meet modern educational needs. “They’re still in flux,” she said, adding that there are still a number of uncertainties surrounding the effort, including implementation costs for the district. “My guess is that we’ll hear a lot more during the upcoming school year,” she said.
The fact that the new District 90 superintendent, Edward Condon, won’t begin his new position until July 1 of this year was also a factor, Geldner said. “We really think it’s important to have him in on the discussion about pros and cons of all day kindergarten,” she said, adding that his participation will also be important in discussions about the common core standards.
“We weren’t under the gun to make any decisions,” Geldner said of making the switch from half-day kindergarten to a full-day program. The debate raised many questions at a February board meeting, with board members largely speaking against a full-day program and a number of educators speaking in favor.
Geldner said the delay shouldn’t much effect the decision one way or another. “Even if we had voted in favor of [all-day kindergarten] at our last meeting, there would not be implementation in the fall,” she said. A yes vote would only have been a first step in the process, and the board would still have required additional discussion about the design of the full day program. Three options were to implement an expanded day, a half day plus enrichment programs, or a straightforward full-day program. By law, Geldner said, there must be a half-day alternative.
On top of that, a full-day program would require changes to the facilities that would take additional time to discuss and implement. “So none of that had been flushed out,” she said.
Geldner said she feels the board made the right decision. “It was a unanimous vote. And it’s a good, solid educationally-based and fiscally-based decision.”