Jim Yount believes his daughter Linnaea, who turns 5 Nov. 26, is advanced for her age, and that starting kindergarten now would help her reach her potential.
Traditionally, children who turn five after Sept. 1 would need to wait another year to enter kindergarten.
The Falls School Board Monday, however, agreed to a new policy that will allow children, who turn age 5 between Sept. 1 or thereafter through Oct. 31, to be considered for early entrance into their first official year of elementary school.
And while Linnaea's birthday doesn't coincide with the designated dates, she and others have the option to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“The district needs some kind of policy,” said board Chairman Gordy Dault. “But I don't want to see a policy that's totally inflexible. Things happen.”
In Linnaea's case, Superintendent Kevin Grover will have the final say.
“(Students) will have to have a test done to show they're academically ready,” he said.
And that will hold true for any child who turns five between the new Sept.1 to Oct. 31 policy.
Across the state, Grover said data shows a multitude of different cutoff dates set by districts for children entering kindergarten early. Some, he said, even reach until Dec. 31.
“Somewhere we have to have a date,” he said. “Oct. 31 seemed to be the most common day.”
But still, exceptions can – and most likely will – be made.
Grover said each student in question for early entrance to kindergarten will be evaluated through standardized testing to make sure they are academically ready. Administration will also contact the child's preschool teachers, daycare providers and/or parents to ensure the child is socially fit to start their school days.
“There are social consequences of being young your whole life,” Grover said, “however, the earlier kids start their education shows good results, too.”
Yount, while admitting he is “a little bit biased,” said he feels his daughter is a strong candidate for kindergarten and wants her to succeed.
“She's had more than a year of preschool at St. Thomas,” he said. “I feel she would be basically wasting a year academically if she went to preschool again.”
Early admission into kindergarten will need to fit the following procedures under the new policy:
- Parent requests will be reviewed after the April 15 school request deadline.
- A school team will conduct a standardized assessment of the student's social, emotional and behavioral functioning. Children who appear socially/emotionally ready for kindergarten will be referred to district staff for completion of the assessment process. District and National Special Education Co-op staff will assess academic readiness for kindergarten.
- Children must demonstrate superior intellectual ability, defined as performance at or above the 90 percentile on a nationally normed, individually administered test of cognitive ability.
- A fee of $100 is collected to cover pre-assessment and consultation time with an assessment team. This fee may be waived if the district decides it does not have to do an assessment. A birth certificate also needs to be presented for age verification.
- The assessment team, consisting of early childhood teachers, special education teachers, principal and psychologist, will review all information from all members and provide a recommendation concerning the early entrance request to the superintendent. The superintendent's decision is final.
In other business Monday, the board agreed to move forward with the health and physical education curriculum cycle for the upcoming school year.
"I do not want to delay the curriculum cycle," member Darrell "Boxer" Wagner said.
The board for several months has debated holding money budgeted for the health/phy ed department for one year to help address any potential overspending.
Monday, however, the board agreed to allow the department to purchase ePads to replace outdated text books and new cardio equipment.
