Wayne Wrap-Around Kindergarten Program Expected To Get Approval Thursday

WAYNE, N.J. — The Board of Education is expected to approve the controversial wrap-around kindergarten program at a meeting Thursday.

The move marks the end of months-long process by parents and some board members to bring full-day kindergarten to the only school district in Passaic County that still doesn’t have it.

A dedicated group of parents lobbied hard for the program to go out for a referendum vote in November, but voters rejected it. There were accusations that poll workers made comments to voters about whether they should approve the $2.1 million needed for the program.

Residents on both sides of issue spoke out for and against the program for months. Proponents said it would provide a necessary first step to kids’ educations. Opponents, mostly middle- and high school-aged students and their parents, said the cuts needed to implement it would eliminate extracurricular athletic and enrichment programs necessary to kids’ educations.

The Board of Education voted in January to add full-day kindergarten, but officials decided last month the program was too expensive to implement and still stay within the state-mandated 2 percent budget increase cap.

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