Inver Grove Heights School District Weighs Free, All-Day Kindergarten

Improving test scores, drawing new students into Inver Grove Heights schools and increasing early childhood literacy.

There are plenty of reasons why Inver Grove Heights School District officials would like to develop free, all-day kindergarten programs at all three elementary schools in the district, but one drawback: The proposal would cost the district in excess of $26,000 annually to implement.

The District 199 School Board has been mulling the proposal since April, when Superintendent Deirdre Wells first brought the concept before board members. The board is expected to vote on the issue as early as May 23, according to Wells and School District Business Manager Bruce Rimstad.

An Academic Boost

The Inver Grove Heights School District currently has 210 kindergarten students, 114 of which are already enrolled in all-day kindergarten programs. But those programs come at a cost: Parents must pay $2,475 each year to enroll their student in all-day kindergarten.

Instituting free, all-day kindergarten across the district, Wells said, would give students roughly five hours of instructional time each day, double that of the district's current half-day program. The extra instruction time, Wells and members of the school board believe, could have a significant impact on the academic achievement of the students who are not currently enrolled in the program.

“All the research says the sooner you start working with these kids, the better it is,” School Board Chair Mickey Difronzo said. “Without high literacy skills, you’re not going to succeed with the rest of your subject matter. This is going to give us more time to work with those kids who may be struggling.”

But the advantages go beyond student achievement and improved test scores, Wells said. Having all-day kindergarten programs in Inver Grove schools will make the district more competitive with its neighboring districts, many of which already offer free, all-day programs.

In the 2011-2012 school year, the district has already lost 32 potential kindergarten students to open enrollments in other districts, according to information presented to the school board at a work session in April. The majority of those students went to the South St. Paul district, which offers free, all-day kindergarten.

Rolling out a free, all-day program in Inver Grove will help the district retain those students and attract more families, Wells believes.

The Cost

The district already has the equivalent of seven full-time positions dedicated to its current all-day programs, but would have to add the equivalent of two more full-time positions in order to implement free, all-day kindergarten across the district.

To pay for the equivalent of nine full-time positions, Wells and Rimstad estimate the district will have to shell out roughly $747,000 in annual staffing costs.

The vast majority of that will be covered by the per pupil state aid the schools receive each year. The district will also save roughly $72,000 annually by eliminating busing for its half-day kindergarten programs. That leaves roughly $26,000 in annual staffing costs — plus other miscellaneous curriculum and materials costs.

The district already has 207 students pre-enrolled for all-day and half-day kindergarten programs in the 2011-2012 school year. Wells believes a free, all-day program can break even, if the district can attract at least 18 additional kindergarten students — and the state aid that comes with them.

But until the program becomes cost neutral, the district would dip into its unreserved fund balance — a move that concerns at least one school board member, Phil Prokopowicz. While Prokopowicz believes instituting free, all-day kindergarten is a positive step, he worries that the proposed program could deplete the fund balance. He also questions whether the program could attract enough students to break even.

“Obviously I think there is a need and desire for [free] all-day kindergarten,” Prokopowicz said. “But the question is: ‘How big is that desire?’ Will it be eight or nine students, or will it be 25 students?”

Correction: Due to incorrect information given to Patch by School District 199, the article above contained an inaccuracy. This year, the school district had 210 kindergarten students, 114 of which were enrolled in all-day kindergarten.