Election Results: Ridgewood Approves Full-Day Kindergarten

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — Residents decided Tuesday, although not by much, to bring full-day kindergarten to the village beginning in September 2017.

The vote was 4,580 voting in favor of the program and 4,444 voting against it.

The percentage of residents who voted 'yes' was 50.75 percent, a far cry from the percentage of people, 73, who, when asked during a district-wide survey, said they want full-day kindergarten in the village. More than half of survey respondents, 57 percent, said they supporting raising taxes to bring full-day kindergarten to Ridgewood.

Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents, 71 percent, said they already take their children to supplemental program either before or after half-day kindergarten.

Approving the measure means the district will raise an additional $928,000 in municipal taxes, raising the average homeowner's tax bill $111, or $16 per $100,000 of assessed home value. The money will be used to hire additional staff — about eight teachers and four aides — and purchase equipment and supplies.

Kindergarten will run on the same schedule, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., as the older grades.

Officials said a full-day program gives students the chance to learn more by having structured play time, 250 minutes a week, which can also help develop social skills. Students would also get 275 minutes of unstructured playtime a week and 235 minutes of special programs, like physical education, art, and music, of which they only get 150 minutes a week now.

The program doubles the amount of reading, writing, and math instructional time students have.

Students would start the day with math, reading, and writing followed by handwriting, phonics, and vocabulary session and a 50-minute math session from 11:05 to 11:55 a.m.

Lunch and recess would be followed by a teacher-led extended recess time. (Click here for a complete schedule breakdown.)

Class sizes will be between 18 and 22 students.

The district will soon begin renovating any spaces needed for the new program, hire staff, develop the program, and purchase supplies.

In other news, Jeannette S. Wilson and James A. Morgan received 4,405 and 2,951, respectively, as they ran uncontested for Board of Education seats.

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