O'Reilly to offer options for kindergarten program at next week's board meeting

Superintendent Ed O'Reilly will present the Grandview Heights Board of Education Tuesday night with a set of options and recommendations for the district's 2009-10 kindergarten program.

This year's kindergarten program will be running at a deficit of a little more than $23,000, O'Reilly said.

The school board has set a policy that the district's kindergarten program should be self-funded, he said.

"If you operate an all-day kindergarten program that is tuition-based, state law now requires that you have a sliding scale based on family needs and offer free or reduced tuitions for families that qualify," O'Reilly said.

"Certainly, we aren't going to tell parents who can't afford to pay our $290 a month fee that their children can't participate in the full-day program," he said.

The deficit has occurred primarily because of an increased number of families qualifying for the free or reduce fees during the current economic downturn, O'Reilly said.

Last year 18 families registered their children for kindergarten after the district's original deadline, making it more difficult to predict costs and staffing for the program, he said.

O'Reilly said a rumor that Grandview's full-day kindergarten program may be eliminated began to spread through the community after he informed the board last month of the deficit and his intention to present a plan at the February meeting.

"That is not true," he said. "I couldn't be an advocate of that position."

He will present the board Tuesday with various options and his recommendation for next year's kindergarten program, O'Reilly said.

He is still finalizing his recommendations, he said.

The options he will present to the board will be based on a number of beliefs he has about the kindergarten program, O'Reilly said.

"I have gone on record as saying that I believe parent choice is very important in the kindergarten program," he said.

Some parents believe their 5-year-old child is not ready for a full-day program, and many children are not ready for an all-day class, O'Reilly said.

Most students are successful in an all-day kindergarten class, he said, but it is difficult to track data showing whether these children are farther ahead than half-day students.

The district needs an all-day program for students with specific learning needs that cannot be met in a half-day setting, O'Reilly added.

Until the state requires full-day kindergarten, Grandview should not offer a fully board funded all-day program, he said.

Although Gov. Ted Strickland last week recommended funding all-day kindergarten for all students, O'Reilly said he doesn't believe that plan could be implemented before the fall.

While there are always a few parents who register their children after the deadline, last year's total of 18 was much greater than normal, he said.

The district had informed one of its kindergarten teachers last spring that her position would be eliminated because of the anticipated kindergarten enrollment for the new school year, O'Reilly said.

The influx of additional students meant there was a need for that teacher, he said, "and fortunately we were able to arrange for her to return. She could have easily found a job with another district, and you couldn't have blamed her for looking."

Grandview's current $290 monthly fee for all-day kindergarten totals $2,610 per year.

"When you look at what other programs are charging for their program, it's a very reasonable cost, especially when you take into account the quality of our teachers," O'Reilly said.

In addition, the district's child care program charges $66 a month for before-school care (one hour) and $198 a month for the three-hour after-school care, he said.

Wellington offers a full-day private program at a yearly fee of $15,200, O'Reilly said. Saint Joseph's Montessori runs a program for students ages 3-6 that costs $6,275 a year for half-day and $7,275 for the full-day program. The school's before and after-care costs an additional $222 per month.

Boulevard Preschool's program runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and costs $165 per week, or $5,940 for a 36-week school year, he said.