Free, All-Day Kindergarten Likely Not an Option for Kent Parents

Kent parents hoping for free, all-day kindergarten next year may want to start considering other options for their child's first year of schooling.

The Kent Board of Education voted Tuesday night to ask the state for a waiver that would exempt from having to provide a free, all-day kindergarten curriculum.

The board voted unanimously during their meeting at Franklin Elementary School without comment Tuesday night to apply for . If granted, the waiver will free the district from the state mandate passed in 2009 that required Ohio public schools provide all-day kindergarten.

Lori Slattery, director of instructional programming for the district, said Kent is applying for the waiver despite Ohio House Bill 30, which could eliminate the all-day kindergarten mandate if approved and is under review now by members of the Ohio legislature.

"That bill is right now being reviewed, and we’re not sure when that (vote is) going to take place," she said. "We don’t want to wait to find out later in the year if that happens. We’re kind of in limbo right now.”

The state permits districts to apply for the waiver "if the district can demonstrate that a hardship exists that prevents it from offering all-day, every-day kindergarten," according to the ODE waiver application. The waiver applies to academic years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.

Slattery said the district received a waiver last year exempting Kent from adhering to the original bill passed in 2009 mandating free, all-day kindergarten. The original bill, Slattery said, also prohibited districts from offering a tuition-based, full-day kindergarten option after fiscal year 2011.

"If House Bill 30 passes, the district will be allowed to go back to charging for a tuition-based program, which we’ve had pretty good success with in the past," she said.

If Kent gets the waiver, it will delay all-day kindergarten curriculum in the district for at least two years. If House Bill 30 passes, the district will offer free, half-day kindergarten with an option for a tuition-based full-day kindergarten program, Slattery said.

Kent City Schools Superintendent Joseph Giancola said the issue comes in the wake of the Republican leadership change in the Ohio Statehouse.

Giancola said former Gov. Ted Strickland had implemented a new school-funding model in Ohio, and part of that funding model incorporated new educational requirements for districts — including the free, all-day kindergarten mandate.

But the new educational elements proved to be the victims of poor timing, as Strickland's program introduction occurred almost simultaneously with the start of the recession.

"So the funding for it never came through because the tax revenues at the state level were not great enough," Giancola said.

The all-day kindergarten waiver is just one of the district's plans for saving money, Giancola said. As Gov. John Kasich tries to balance the state's budget — and reconcile an estimated $8 billion deficit — the district anticipates anywhere between 10 and 20 percent cuts in state funding when the state budget proposal is released March 15.

In the meantime, Giancola said committees have been put together at all of the district's buildings to consider cost-saving measures.

“And they’re just meeting now so we don’t have any recommendations. We’ll have recommendations for you soon," he told the school board Tuesday.