Corporation Discussion Notes  
Tuesday, July 3, 2007

 Present: (OT) M. Durbin; (SSES) W. Shipe; other elementary-level discussion representatives were invited but were unable to attend due to conflicts.  M. Conover, WCTA President was attending the NEA Representative Assembly in Philadelphia.

 Following is a synopsis of the corporation’s plans to implement Full Day Kindergarten (FDK):

 1. Funding.  Through a special FDK Grant, the corporation will receive between $665 and $2,500 per student.  They expect it to be nearer the $665.  Attending all day will not increase the State grant or property tax levy funding normally received for Kdg.  The Assoc. asked about volunteer parent funding.  The Admin. was unaware of this option.  Subsequent inquiry with ISTA revealed that some corporations are charging parents as much as $50 per student per week to enroll in a FDK class.  The DOE website mentions this as an option.

 2. Selection.  Students will be selected on the basis of academic need as determined by a special screening.  Parents of incoming Kindergarten students will receive (or may have already received) a letter inviting them to apply.  The number of students won’t exceed 50 but may be less depending on interest.  Plan is to select 40 and leave some room for students who register late.

 3.  Screening.  Kdg. teachers will be invited to volunteer for screening at the stipend rate.  Admin. will assist as well.  Dates and places of screening are 7/13 and 7/16 at CRES and 7/12 and 7/13 at SSES.  They will use the Dial Test (previously used for the Launch Program.)

 4. Location.  One class at CRES for students from WWES and CRES and one at SSES for students from MGES, OTES, and SSES.  These sites were selected to capitalize on available staffing.  SSES pre-enrollment figures are considerably low at this point.  By positioning a FDK class there, the current staff can remain.

 5. Staffing.  Prefer to have a full-time Kdg. teacher at each school teach the class but are willing to job-share it between part-time Kdg. teachers.  The Assoc. voiced grave concern about having more than 18, let along 25, academically at-risk students in a class without providing an IA.  The Admin. prefers to delay any decision on this until they see what the parental interest and student ability levels are.

 6. Special Needs Students.  Will be considered and evaluated the same as all other interested students.

 7.  Fast ForWord.  The Admin. felt that regardless of whether Fast ForWord is administered in Kdg. at the school hosting FDK, the students enrolled in FDK will most likely take the training while in Kdg.  If they continue at a school that administers Fast ForWord in Gr. 1, these student could continue in one of the follow-on modules while the other students are taking the basic module.

 8.  Lunch.  The BKB staff will supervise lunch and will most likely also absorb these children during the time between the morning and afternoon part-time sessions so that the FDK teacher(s) can collaborate with the other members of the Kdg. team.

 9.  Specials and Prep Time.  This was unresolved.  The Assoc. voiced concern that with the already heavy number of classes and the shorter attention span of most Kdg. students, a long (40-45 minute) art, media, music, and physical education class might be difficult to schedule and not be educationally suitability for these students.  Each principal will discuss the specials schedules for his or her building and arrive at an independent decision on how to do it.  The Assoc. stated that if that decision can not be made independently, it would need to come back to the corporation level for further discussion.

10.  Transportation.  Students will be transported to their home school first and then be sent on via school bus to one of the two FDK school sites.

 11.  Curriculum.  The Assoc. commented that increasing the school day will place additional planning on the person teaching FDK.  The Admin. envisions that the additional time will be absorbed by moving at a slower pace and spending more time repeating exercises to counteract the lower academic preparedness of the students.

 12.  Assignment.  The Assoc. asked what would happen if a full-time teacher declined teaching FDK.  The Admin. stated that they would then turn to the part-time teachers to share the class. 

13.  Additional Comments.

             a.  In response to the Admin’s suggestion that screening might be moved to the Spring, the Assoc. commented that when the $17 stipend was introduced, screening was part of the normal school year and the Kdg. teachers were paid their normal salary to do it.  The Assoc. did not envision that the stipend would be used for this and will be considering asking that Kdg. teacher contracts be increased to encompass this task similar to what is done for media specialists.

             b.  The Assoc. also mentioned that since WWS builds schools that already exceed the State-recommended guideline of 1:425 ratio for special area subjects, when all Kdg. classes are full-day, the Admin. needs to consider additional special area staffing.  The Admin. stated that WWS couldn’t afford smaller schools and although they appreciated the commitment of the staff to want to deliver the best education possible, including art, media, music and physical education instruction, they made no commitment to increase staffing to get it done.

             c.  Had transfers been required because of a high fluctuation in enrollment, building seniority within certification area would take the place of corporation seniority within certification area.  Thankfully, this does not appear to be necessary.

 Respectfully submitted by W. Shipe.