ARLINGTON — The School District here is launching free full-day kindergarten at all elementary schools next year.
The district has offered full-day classes for four years but charged tuition to cover the difference between the half-day paid for by state and local taxes and the unfunded second half of the school day. It cost families $3,050 per student per year.
Starting in the fall, parents won’t pay and full-day kindergarten will be the norm, according to the district. Parents would need to opt out of the full-day schedule and provide mid-day transportation to or from school if they choose a half-day schedule.
The state plans to provide money for full-day kindergarten across Washington by 2017-18 and currently funds programs at schools with high numbers of low-income students. The Legislature directed $89.8 million in the 2013-15 budget to full-day kindergarten, which went to programs at 488 schools for 35,036 students, said Nathan Olson, a spokesman for the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. That’s about 44 percent of Washington kindergartners, he said.
Some Snohomish County school districts receive state support for full-day kindergarten while others, including Arlington, have decided to pay for it without the state money. Still others have tuition-only programs or no full-day kindergarten at all.
“There were other districts that offered full-time kindergarten before we did, but it really comes down to what the community wants,” Arlington School District spokeswoman Andrea Conley said.
Arlington is the fifth of 15 districts in the county to have free full-day classes for all kindergartners. Of the other 10 districts, four charge tuition for full-day kindergarten, four have a mix of free and tuition programs and two do not offer full-day kindergarten.
The county’s smallest districts have free kindergarten available to all students. Granite Falls started full-day kindergarten this year, Darrington last year and Sultan two years ago, administrators said. Index, the smallest district with nine kindergartners this year, has offered full-day classes for at least six years.
School districts that charge tuition or have a mix of tuition and free programs are: Everett, Edmonds, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Lakewood, Monroe, Northshore and Snohomish. Tuition ranges from $2,700 to $3,600 per student per year, and some districts offer reduced prices based on income.
The Mukilteo and Stanwood-Camano school districts do not have full-day kindergarten classes, though administrators say they hope to soon.
Stanwood-Camano officials are waiting on state funding. For Mukilteo, the problem has been space.
“We used to have all-day kindergarten and it was tuition-based,” district spokesman Andy Muntz said. “It sort of just dwindled with the number of classrooms.”
The district is about to break ground on a new elementary scheduled to be finished by fall 2016 and a new kindergarten center to be built by 2017. That would give the district room for full-day kindergarten, Muntz said.
Though not all districts have free full-day kindergarten or any plans to add it next year, many are preparing for the state’s 2017-18 timeline.
Northshore already has relocated kindergarten classes from its most crowded schools to less busy campuses. The Edmonds School District is adding 34 new portable classrooms across the district, meant for fifth- and sixth-graders to free up space inside schools for kindergartners, district spokeswoman DJ Jakala said.
The Monroe School Board voted Monday to expand free full-day kindergarten from one to three of the district’s five elementaries next year, with or without increased state funding.
“It seems pretty clear that the state is moving toward supporting this model in all schools,” spokeswoman Rosemary O’Neil said.
The Legislature is considering funding full-day kindergarten at more schools.
Arlington has four elementaries with 359 kindergarten students total, 226 of them in full-day classes. The schools did not receive state money for full-day kindergarten in 2013-15, and there’s no guarantee they will in the next budget. Either way, the district has promised to provide the full-day program free next year, Conley said.
“We feel like a lot of our community is wanting it,” she said. “There were quite a few cheers when we announced it at our kindergarten information night.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439, kbray@heraldnet.com
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