Want half-day kindergarten? Boise and West Ada schools are asking parents for feedback
When school districts in the Treasure Valley announced offering free optional full-day kindergarten next academic year, confusion arose over what would happen to the half-day option.
Some parents have said they still want the half-day option for their kids and have raised concerns about what they felt was a lack of engagement with the community when districts made their decisions on kindergarten. Districts have said they planned to work with parents on accommodations.
“Full-day is wonderful. Half-day is wonderful,” said Sherry Nevers, a parent with a child who will enter kindergarten in the Boise School District. “People need to be able to choose.”
The Boise and West Ada school districts — which both announced earlier this year they will offer free full-day kindergarten — are now looking into half-day options and asking for input from families. It’s not yet clear what those programs would look like and how many families in each district have shown an interest in the option.
Districts will ‘explore’ half-day kindergarten
Boise School District spokesperson Dan Hollar told the Idaho Statesman in an email that the district is “in the process of exploring interest in offering a half-day kindergarten program on a limited basis for the 2022-2023 school year.”
Last week, the district in an email to parents and guardians asked that those interested in a half-day option contact their home school before April 28.
To have a half-day program, the district said certain requirements must be met: The district must have at least 15 students enrolled in the half-day program for the district to offer a session; the students enrolled must commit to completing at least the first semester of the program; and families must provide their own transportation.
“Once it has been determined if there is enough interest, sites will be announced to provide the half-day kindergarten program and interested families will be contacted,” the district said in an email.
The West Ada School District is also soliciting feedback from the community on a half-day option.
As part of kindergarten registration process in West Ada, families are asked to fill out a survey about full- and half-day options. The survey closes May 4. The district plans to use those results to “determine need for half-day and full-day kindergarten programs at specific school sites and throughout West Ada.”
“For families interested in a flexible option at their home school, we kindly request that you meet with the building administration to address this need and discuss items such as dismissal time, transportation and instructional time,” the district said in an email to families.
Families will be told by May 19 about half-day kindergarten options, the district said.
Why parents want half-day option
Administrators, teachers and lawmakers have all talked about the benefits of full-day kindergarten. Legislators last month passed a bill that would add literacy funds aimed to let districts offer the full-day option. The state previously funded half a day.
But some families have said the half-day option is a better fit for them and their kids.
Parents said they wanted more one-on-one time with their child, that they felt it was more developmentally appropriate for their child to attend half-day kindergarten, and that they wanted additional time for their child to pursue their own interests or extracurricular activities.
“People have a whole slew of reasons,” Nevers said. “There’s this significant portion of the district that does want half-day kindergarten, and it’s important to me that that’s offered to best meet the needs of this group.”
Sandy Cardon, another parent in the Boise School District, said her family liked slowly transitioning into a full day of school. Her children went to a part-time pre-school, half-day kindergarten and then went on to first grade, she said.
Cardon has two children who have already gone through kindergarten, a child currently in kindergarten and a 3-year-old who will be attending kindergarten in the next few years.
“For us, it felt like it was just a really gentle transition to all-day school,” she told the Statesman. “Just with my experience with my own kids, I just don’t think that they necessarily would have had the stamina to do all-day in kindergarten.”
Cardon said she supports free full-day kindergarten for all families who want it, but continuing to offer the half-day option for those families who don’t is important. She’s concerned that some families might not be aware that half-day could still be an option for them.
“I’m happy that they’re offering it,” she said. “It just kind of seemed like a lot of stress, and anxiety, and upset could have been avoided.”
Nevers said families who opt for the district’s half-day program could also face additional challenges: They will likely have to provide their own transportation, and the district hasn’t yet announced where the half-day classrooms would be.
Nevers said she also thinks some families may have already made alternative arrangements for their children after learning they might not have the half-day option.
“I think prior to making such a significant change that impacts so many people on a personal level, I think a survey would have been a wise choice and would have helped … in the decision-making process as to what to offer in this year and future years,” she said.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 11:03 AM.
