All-day kindergarten, expanded middle school proposed
Board of education members for Marion-Florence Unified School District agreed Monday to consider a proposal for an optional all-day kindergarten class, starting next year.
Shifting sixth grade to the middle school also will be discussed.
Superintendent Gerald Henderson said the district has students who need more time to learn the academic and social skills needed to succeed in school.
Henderson said students needing more time to master these skills can't do so in a half day of kindergarten. If they are unable to keep up, they continue to fall farther behind, the longer they are in school.
"We know students graduate from MHS who are more than four years below grade level in reading and math," Henderson said.
If those students leave kindergarten prepared for first grade, they are more likely to continue to master each grade level. Henderson said most studies indicate students must read at least at an eighth grade level and understand math ideas in basic algebra to succeed in today's society.
Kindergarten teachers are recommending one all day section and two half-day sections. Six children already spend all day in kindergarten, simply repeating the morning class in the afternoon, said Terry Slattery, MES principal.
Board members said they were willing to consider it, as long as all day kindergarten remained an option. Henderson said that in most districts, after parents see the benefits to their children's education, almost all students attend kindergarten all day.
Middle School
In addition to the kindergarten needs, special education is cramped for space at the elementary school. If sixth grade was moved to the middle school, that would open up three full classrooms at the elementary.
The new middle school has several classrooms used by the high school that could be used by sixth graders, MMS principal Tod Gordon said. The high school would have to move those classes back to its building.
Some board members said it was worth considering, since a number of school districts have sixth through eighth grade middle schools. Further, it would start to even out the workload on administrators — Gordon currently oversees two grades, while Slattery has kindergarten through sixth.
Others had concerns about contact between sixth graders and high school students.
"We have an unusually large number of freshmen girls who are pregnant this year," said Susan Robson, board member and county attorney. "That doesn't mean it's happening in the schools, but it means things are happening at a lot younger age."
Member Keith Collett pointed out that concerns about physical education space and other issues hadn't been resolved. Discussing the issue without an answer to those questions was useless, he said.
Hill Building access
Board members agreed to hear a joint report from an architect, fire marshal, and promoter of a cable lift for the Hill Building.
Three classrooms on the second floor of the historical building are not accessible by wheelchair, and the stairs are difficult for students on crutches to use.
The lift would be attached to one wall of the interior stairwell and glide around the corner to reach the second floor.
Cost is about $25,000 to $50,000, said Martin Tice, business manager, but the main issues are space and fire safety.
"It would work in the space provided but whether it would meet fire codes is the question," he explained.
The lift would remove the west stairwell from use, except for the lift. This may be seen as too limiting to evacuation efforts during an emergency, though the building does have exterior fire escapes.
Also, the district may have to build an "area of rescue." These rooms are specifically designed to withstand fire for at least an hour. People who are disabled use the rooms for protection until firefighters can reach them. Construction of a safety room could raise costs considerably and remove needed classroom space.
Because of the questions, administrators recommended the company, fire marshal, and architect all visit the school together, study the building, and determine if the lift is at least feasible. The board then can consider whether it wants bids and plans to install the system.
"As a practical matter, we're going to keep using the Hill Building, so we should make it accessible," said Keith Collett, board member.
Member Roger Hannaford said the district could save a great deal of money simply by rescheduling classes so students or teachers with disabilities would always be on an accessible floor.
"In my five years on this board, we've never had a project we wanted that we couldn't afford," Collett responded.
Administrators will arrange the meeting of professionals and bring their comments back at a future meeting.
They added that this would complete most accessibility issues in the district. Portions of the high school gym remain inaccessible but resolving them would require extensive reconstruction of the building.
Budget
Board members will begin reviewing ways to save between $100,000 and $150,000 in the next fiscal year.
The state legislature is not expected to increase funding substantially to schools. Administrators say the district must make changes to meet its expenses next year.
If the board doesn't increase local taxes, the budget must be reduced. In school districts, most of the money is in employee salaries and benefits.
"What I've heard is uniform sadness that it comes down to people, but also uniform insistence that we match our staff to our enrollment," said Rex Savage, board president.
Savage said normal attrition may reduce staff with actual layoffs. However, he wants the board to make decisions before the May 1 deadline.
"That's not fair to our people," he said.
Henderson said more information should be available from the Legislature in March or April, but significant increases to schools is unlikely.
Further, declining enrollment doesn't necessarily mean a reduction in staff.
"The decrease is K-12," he said. "If it was all in one grade, sure, we could easily reduce staff, but it isn't."
In other reports:
MHS student Kelsey Craig will perform Saturday at the state piano festival at Wichita State University. She earned a I rating at regionals.
Members accepted the resignation of Deanna Thierolf as head cross country coach.
Contracts for all principals were extended through 2004. Dollar amounts will be determined later.
Gordon has been elected president of Kansas Middle School Administrators organization.
