All-day kindergarten in Austintown?

AUSTINTOWN — Nobody in the Austintown School District is arguing that all-day rather than half-day kindergarten classes would be bad.

District officials and school board members agree to the contrary — that all-day kindergarten will give Austintown pupils a better foundation for first grade and will boost their social skills. It would also help with reading and math scores — two areas where the district needs improvement, said director of instruction Vince Colaluca.

Proponents say all-day kindergarten gives those advantages and more, including teachers who feel less time constraints and better school attendance.

But can those little tykes handle a full day of school? Yes, says schools Superintendent Doug Heuer. The classes, he said, would not be structured like first grade. Rather, there would be activities and rest periods designed with the age group in mind.

“There would be more informal time, more discovery time,” he said.

Heuer and Michael Creatore,   school board president, said that they have had many inquiries from parents in the district about when all-day kindergarten will start.

One of those parents is Brad Gessner, a former school board member whose 5-year-old son prompts his personal interest in the issue. Gessner said that during a campaign for the bond issue that raised money for the new middle school on Raccoon Road, parents were told the new school would mean more room in the elementary schools for an all-day program.

Fourth-graders will move out of the elementary schools into Frank Ohl Middle School once all middle school pupils move to Raccoon Road next year.

The district has the room and sees the benefits of an all-day program. What administrators and board members aren’t sure of is how to pay for the seven extra teachers who would be needed for it, Heuer said.

The state, explained Heuer, pays only for half-day kindergarten. The district will have to find more money by making cuts somewhere, he said, because there is no new money coming in.

Salaries and benefits for seven more teachers will cost about $250,000 to $280,000, Heuer said.

There would be a savings of $60,000 a year involved in starting all-day kindergarten, he said, because the district would no longer need to run buses at mid-day.

He said one way to raise the rest of the money would be to not replace teachers who retire or leave the district for other jobs. Another way, he said, would be for the high school teachers to give up a half-hour planning period and teach more classes, eliminating the need for as many teachers at the high school. Some of those teachers, he said, could shift positions within the district.

The planning period is a contract issue, he said. The teachers union would have to vote on allowing its elimination.