Board questions what to do with junior kindergarten

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

The question as to what the Mt. Pleasant School District should do with junior kindergarten: should it stay, go or another section be added, is still puzzling the district.

During the Mt. Pleasant School Board meeting Monday night, board members discussed the various options with the district?s pre-K, junior kindergarten and kindergarten teachers. Junior kindergarten is meant for five-year-olds who may not be quite ready for kindergarten academically or maturity wise. Junior kindergarten teacher, Karen Putthoff, said she teaches the same curriculum as kindergarten, just at a slower pace.

Interim Superintendent Dr. John Roederer said he spoke to 13 different districts within Henry County. Of those 13 districts, 10 had some form of junior kindergarten.

The issue, as Roederer said, is the state does not recognize junior kindergarten, they see it as retention. He fears if the junior kindergarten section is expanded, and the district now has 30-some students in the class each year, instead of the 18-20 that are currently enrolled, it could have a negative effect on the district. ?The issues becomes, if you start retaining 36, 38 kids, then the state is going to say, ?time out, what is going on with your four-year-old program? Why isn?t your four-year-old program doing what it?s intent was?? and the state really begins to raise questions about your pre-K and kindergarten programs,? warned Roederer. ?And the next time we have accreditation, if we were in that boat, there would be some issues.?

The voluntary four-year-old program was created to help prepare children for the rigors of kindergarten and to help build a foundation of success. However, some pre-K and kindergarten teachers have concerns with the program. ?The legislature, who is making all of these decisions, tells (the pre-K) what curriculum they can teach and it doesn?t necessarily go with what we?re expecting our kids to know,? said Angie Jandrey, kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Elementary. ?There is definitely some disconnect there.?

Another issue, Jandrey said teachers are running into is that the four-year-old program is only for four-year-olds. ?In the past, before we had the (voluntary) preschool, we had parents that sent their kids when they were three, or four or five. Now, that?s not an option,? said Jandrey. ?It?s like we?ve taken the rights away from the parents, saying their children has to go.?

Jandrey went on to say that in years past, teachers would question whether a child born in the spring, and who would have turned five just before the September cut-off for kindergarten, were really ready to enter kindergarten. Now, they don?t even have an option for those kids born in August or September, because if you?re five, you?re going to kindergarten. ?They (parents) don?t feel their babies are ready,? she explained of why some parents have requested junior kindergarten for their tots.

Van Allen kindergarten teacher Chris Snyder agreed saying several parents have requested their child be placed in the junior kindergarten class because they don?t feel they?re ready for kindergarten. ?We?ve had to (tell) parents that decision will be made by administration,? said Snyder. ?It?s sad to say that just because you?re five-years-old you?re ready (for kindergarten).?

Currently, after kindergarten round up for each of the elementary schools, except Salem, the district already has a list of 19 children for the junior kindergarten class. And that count excludes children from head start, private preschools and parental requests.

The teachers also brought classroom size to the attention of the board. Snyder said the district is looking at an incoming kindergarten class of roughly 168-178 students.

?I think we all know, kindergarten and first-grade need smaller (classroom) numbers in order to be effective and build that foundation,? said Snyder, who brought up the issue of adding another section of kindergarten for next year.

Board member Dave Christensen asked the teachers if they could find data on how the students who were in junior kindergarten last year are doing in kindergarten this year. The board also requested a more accurate count of students recommended for junior kindergarten as well as parental requests. The board tabled the issue for further discussion.