Free Free, Full-Day Kindergarten Sought By Burlington County School District

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ – Citing financial stress to school district taxpayers and financial aid losses to school district coffers, Evesham Township said it wants New Jersey lawmakers to support funding in the 2022 budget year to allow all school districts in the Garden State to offer free, full-day kindergarten programs.

“It’s been said many times before, but children are our future,” Jaclyn Veasy, Evesham Township Mayor, told Patch. “The quality of education in one community inevitably affects the overall quality of life in other communities. That’s why it’s so important to promote equal access to quality education for students everywhere.”

The state government has reported a “record surplus” in state funding in recent years, Veasy claimed. In addition, Governor Murphy previously showed support for expanding pre-kindergarten programs in New Jersey, she said.

Taking these two facts together, along with the financial hit that parents take when they must foot the bill for their children’s kindergarten education, the time has come for the state to support tuition-free, full-day kindergarten, Veasy said.

“Preschool and kindergarten are the foundations upon which a child’s entire grade school education is built, and tuition-free, full-day kindergarten removes inequities for families or communities that cannot afford tuition-based programs,” she said.

Evesham is one of 8 New Jersey school districts that offers both half- and full-day kindergarten, according to the Application for State School Aid. The other school districts besides Evesham are:

• Linwood City School District in Atlantic County
• Moorestown Township School District in Burlington County
• Millstone Township School District in Monmouth County
• Upper Freehold Regional School District in Monmouth County
• School District of the Chathams in Morris County

There were 11 New Jersey school districts that did not offer full-day kindergarten for the 2022-2023 school year, according to the Application for State School Aid. Those districts are:

• Haddon Heights Borough School District in Camden County
• Haddon Township School District in Camden County
• Haddonfield School District in Camden County
• West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District in Mercer County
• Metuchen Borough School District in Middlesex County
• Monroe Township School District in Middlesex County
• Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District in Somerset County
• Montgomery Township School District in Somerset County
• New Providence Borough School District in Union County
• Westfield Township School District in Union County
• Lopatcong Township School District in Warren County

W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D., senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University said there are benefits to parents and children in school districts where full-day kindergarten does exist.

“The most obvious and clear benefit is that more children attend kindergarten when full-day [kindergarten] is available,” he said in an interview. “Some children do not attend kindergarten at all if part-day kindergarten is their only option because of the difficulties this creates for employed parents with mid-day pick-up or drop-off.”

Students who are enrolled in full-day kindergarten are more likely to have better academic scores and social skills, Barnett continued. Such students’ parents, particularly their mothers, are also more likely to be employed when their child is enrolled in full-day kindergarten, he added.

The Governor’s Office could not be reached for immediate comment.

However, in Governor Murphy’s budget address last month, he announced plans funding for grades K through 12, for school construction and renovation, expanding access to pre-K programs for more of our kids and making college more affordable. There was no specific mention of free full-day kindergarten.

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