Andover Ends Full-Day Kindergarten Fee For Low-Income Families

ANDOVER, MA — The Andover School Committee voted to eliminate full-day kindergarten tuition for low income families. Last week's vote comes after Superintendent Sheldon Berman learned that the state would reimburse the district for those students. Berman told the committee he was previously under the impression that the state would only reimburse the district for special needs students enrolled in full-day kindergarten. Berman got clarification on the issue after talking with officials from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Under the proposal adopted by the school committee, tuition would be waived for families classified as level one and level two level under state income eligibility guidelines. Level one families previously paid $300, while level two families paid $1,200. Berman said in both cases, the state reimbursement would be higher than the tuition the district was charging.

Families that do not qualify for the waiver will pay $3,575 for full-day kindergarten in the 2019-20 school year.