School board approves full-day kindergarten

Pleasant Valley School District's board of education approved a full-day kindergarten program for next year during last Thursday's board meeting at City Hall.

The program change will cost the school district $485,000 in the first year of implementation.

The ongoing costs for hourly teachers, increased campus supervision and special ed instructional assistants each year add up to roughly $404,000. A one-time cost of $81,000 will go toward classroom supplies and textbooks for six additional classrooms across the district.

"We always need to prioritize—this is a program we're prioritizing," said Linda Peralta, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

Superintendent Luis Villegas supported the fullday kindergarten program because it will give teachers more time to teach reading fundamentals.

"Teachers have more pressure than they've ever had before to teach reading in kindergarten," Villegas said.

The all-day kindergarten would run from 8:10 a.m. to 1:57 p.m., with a 43-minute lunch and 20minute recess.

Under the new program, schools will have the option to use a staggered schedule. An early group could start at 8:10 a.m. and finish at 12:57 p.m. and a late group would run from 9:10 a.m. to 1:57 p.m.

Parents and teachers thought flexibility was essential since kindergarten class sizes will increase from 20 students to 24 students per teacher.

Both the standard and staggered options will provide kindergarten students a minimum of 224 instructional minutes. They will not exceed the 284 instructional minutes of first- through third-graders.

Board member Ron Speakman expressed concern about keeping energetic young students in the classroom for long stretches of time.

"There are some kids you can't keep in a class that long," he said. "We've got to give parents . . . significant options."

Board President Suzanne Kitchens said she was happy to see flexibility in the proposal but wanted to know about the long-term ramifications of the program.

"What's the plan for the future?" she said. "Where are we going forward?"

Three Title I schools—Dos Caminos, El Descanso and Las Posas elementary schools—and Santa Rosa Technology Magnet School currently have full-day kindergarten classes, with about six hours of instruction per day.

Camarillo Heights, La Mariposa, Los Primeros School of Science and Arts, Rancho Rosal and Tierra Linda currently go with half-day kindergarten classes at four hours per day. Camarillo Heights and Tierra Linda offer staggered half-day programs.

The board voted in favor of the proposal 4-0. Board member Jennifer Miller missed her second consecutive regular board meeting and did not vote.