So if there's such a budget crisis in this state, how do they keep coming up with money for things like this, then tell us they'll have to cut local aid. This amounts to free day care for two income families, many of which in Reading would have no problem coming up with the $4,200.

Excuse me. Not all two income Reading families can come up with $4,200. I know mine can't. Free full day kindergarten would be excellent. Reading already has one of the most expensive tuitions in the state.

This has nothing to do with people using this as "free daycare". My daughter's birthday makes it so she will almost be 6 when entering kindergarten and if the half day kindergarten continues in Reading she would almost be going backwards (in terms of hours in school) from preschool so we would almost be forced to pay for full day kindergarten. I think it is a great idea.

Why does Reading want to be in the pre-school business. There are many, many private pre-schools in the area that are excellent. Why are we using classroom space for pre-school. If the answer is that it is required for children with special needs then limit it to that.

This seems to be a great idea to me. Reading's school system is why most of us live in the community and why our property values are so high. This will make our school system better and that is what makes the town better. I totally agree with Melissa about the students going backwards after pre-school. If the funds are there, then we must do it. The long term benefits will pay off for everyone involved.

Sara - I didn't say all, I said many. Why should the taxpayers across the state pay for this? If we think it's important, then either the parents or the town of Reading should be paying for it. Not taxpayers in other (especially less affluent) towns.

Sonny, the thing with the special needs preschool is that it is required (by state law I think?) to be an "integrated" preschool, about 50-50 special needs & non, so for the increase in special needs there is a corresponding increase in regular students. Moreover, the special needs keeds get preschool free @ rise, regardless of income. I know my 2 non-special needs kids could not even get into the slots @ Rise for regular kids (there is a lottery), so we went to a more expensive preschool.

One thing folks should realize is that Reading really is in the minority as far as not having free full day K , which about 80% of the communities in Mass already offer, including our neighboring towns of Melrose, Wilmington, and Woburn . My youngest is attending full day K in Reading starting next month, and I would LOVE it if they could somehow get that $1mil immediately. An existing full day K teacher in Reading has told me that the $800K collected in tuition is not even spent on the full day K program at all, she gets no extra aides, supplies or space or anything. Rather, it is used to balance other parts of the budget. As far as the $4200, we are close to the highest charged in the state ($4400 in Andover), for those places that do charge. Incidentally, wealthier towns like Lexington and Winchester charge under $2k for full day K.

Property value is directly related to the success of a school system! Of course it will benefit our children to provide full-day services. After all these years, it's difficult to hear people refer to education as "free day-care". A day in a kindergarten classroom would solve that misconception problem. I, for one, believe our children deserve every possible advantage we can offer. (No, I have no school age children or grandchildren who will be involved. Yes, I have many years experience in the education field.)

Definition of 'free': without cost or payments.
It will be interesting to see how the School Committee and the School Department will give the Town of Reading full-day kindergarten without costs or payments.
As Milton Friedman, the economist, is quoted as saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

tobus

Why does full day K have to require a new building, necessarily? I saw the space study articles, but they kept lumping in Kindergarten with RISE. Separately, could the the Kindergarten as full day be housed in the existing elementary schools? Also, to correct a stat I quoted earlier, although 83% of the students in MA are enrolled in full day K, only 65% of the districts offer it for free. Nonetheless, how do these districts, many of them with modest means like Woburn, Burlington, Medford, Wilmington, Melrose, etc., and even smaller wealthier towns like Topsfield, Swampscott, manage to fit universal free K it in their budgets. And places like Lynnfield, Lexington, Winchester, Saugus, all charge under $2k. Reading seems to be an outlier.

So the school department made the decision to allow EVERY applicant for full-day kindergarten to be accepted. So much for a lottery. It seems they've made the decision to go to full-day all on their own. What this means for Birch Meadow is that there are 2 full-day classes and one half-day. The half-day teacher will split with Birch Meadow and another half-day class in another school. That will be bad for the teacher and for the half-day kids affected. I thought the policy was one full-day and two half-day classes per school. When did the school department decide that that policy was no longer valid? And when were they going to inform the public?

It is unfortunate that Reading is turning into a community of "have's" and "have not's" concerning full day kindergarten. Those who can afford to pay, can get full day education and those with limited funds get half day. Where is there EQUALITY in this kindergarten process ? EVERY youngster should have the same opportunity regardless of parental income. If half day kindergarten is considered sufficient, then why are we offering full day at all? If there is an educational benefit to full day, then why are we allowing only some to get the advantage. In Birch Meadow, 2/3rd of the kids will have a full day experience and 1/3rd are left out on their own. We should not have it both ways and must do better. Have we lost our values...? If, as a town, we cannot afford to provide full day for all, then we need to only provide half day.

I agree with Nikki. Full day kindergarten is just a few extra hours of play time. My kids both went to 1/2 day and didn't miss anything.