Bethpage-Tribune_2007-03-30

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Bethpage Schools Puts Full-Day K Up for Vote
Special proposition^) appear on the May 15 ballot would capitalize on State EXCEL grant for a total project cost reduction of61%
As officials from the Bethpage School District close out their work with
the Community Budget Advisory Committee and begin finalizing a pro­posed
budget for the 2007/08 school year, the Bethpage Board of Education
announced last week that a special proposition will appear alongside the
school budget on the May 15, 2007 ballot that will allow residents to choose
whether the District should move forward on a plan to implement a Full-
Day Kindergarten program. The proposition would allow the District to cap­italize
on a special NY State EXCEL (Expanding our Children's Education
and Learning) grant that would reduce the cost of new construction and ren­ovation
associated with the program expansion by nearly $1 million.
Traditional State building aid received on the project would further reduce
the cost considerably, however the EXCEL aid is a "one-time only" grant.
If voters approve the Full-Day Kindergarten proposition, the District
could conceivably launch the program as early as September 2008, should
the New York State Education Department (SED) approve the construction
plans in a timely fashion. The New York State Board of Regents is recom­mending
that all districts in the state implement a Full-Day Kindergarten
program, and is proposing that the SED mandate Full-Day Kindergarten
beginning in September 2010. Bethpage Assistant Superintendent of
Instruction and Technology Terrence Clark recently confirmed with SED
officials that they will move ahead with the Full-Day mandate. Mr. Clark
presented to nearly 200 residents at a special meeting held March 13 in the
Bethpage High School Center for the Performing Arts, and made a strong
case for the move to a full-day program.
"We fully expect the mandate to become a reality and we want to be
ready," said Mr. Clark, who unveiled a comprehensive PowerPoint presenta­tion,
which included a five-slide laundry list crammed with SED education­al
mandates that are required of Kindergarten students. "Half-Day
Kindergarten does not allow adequate time for exploration in Math, Science,
Social Studies, and English Language Arts. Clearly, for us, this is not a
childcare issue, but an educational issue."
Keeping Up with the Trend
Statewide, 609 of the 688 school districts have implemented Full-Day
Kindergarten (about 90%). Only 14 of the 53 districts in Nassau County do
not currently have a full-day program, including Bethpage, which has an
Extended-Day program. The Extended-Day program allows for an addition­al
hour of instruction that entails subjects such as music, art, library and
other enriching activities. A Full-Day program would provide 280 minutes
of core instruction time vs. the current 90-120 minutes (depending on the
days physical education is scheduled). This would mean a 166% increase in
total instruction time.
The Research
Mr. Clark said that kindergarten-age children are cognitively ready for a
full day of instruction and research shows that five-year-olds are develop-mentally
ready. Research studies confirm that attendance in Full-Day
Kindergarten results in academic and social benefits for students in both the
primary grades and later on in life. Some quick facts include:
• Students exhibit a greater propensity toward independent learning, class­room
involvement, and productivity in working with peers.
• Students exhibit less withdrawal, anger, shyness, and poor behavior.
• Allows children and teachers time to explore topics in depth.
• Reduces the ratio of transition time to class time (less hectic) and provides
for greater continuity of day-to-day activities.
• Provides more time to address the basic skills and emphasize language
development.
• Provides more time to better develop children's social skills.
• Enables teachers to better detect student learning problems through closer
Bethpage Assistant Superintendent Terrence Clark addresses the community at
a recent meeting regarding NY State's and the District's own initiative to
implement Full-Day Kindergarten. Nearly 200 residents attended.
observation and a more comprehensive collection of students' work.
What it Would Entail
The District has extensively researched the cost impact of expanding to a
Full-Day Kindergarten program. Space capacity, additional labor costs, and the
strong possibility that enrollment would increase as parents would forgo private
school considerations for a full-day public school program are all relative fac­tors.
Taking these into account along with data from a Western Suffolk BOCES
Long-Range Demographic Planning Study, the District determined that two
additional classrooms would be needed at Charles Campagne Elementary
School, one additional classroom would be needed at Kramer Lane Elementary
School, and a minor expansion of one classroom and interior space reallocation
would be required at Central Boulevard Elementary School, the largest of the
three buildings. The District is also planning to reconfigure space at Charles
Campagne School due to the lack of storage space. Additionally, five to six
teachers would need to be hired to accommodate the Full-Day Kindergarten
program.
Other Options Visited
The District reviewed alternative options to building onto every elementary
school, including installing modular classrooms, renting space at the former
LaSalle School (St. Martin's), eliminating computer labs in favor of new
Kindergarten rooms,-and building a "Kindergarten Center" onto one of its exist­ing
buildings. After conferring with the District architect, significant renovation
and expansion would be required at LaSalle that would still cost the District
more than $2 million, and the "Kindergarten Center" would have been much
more costly than the current proposal. After site visits to various school districts
that utilize modular classrooms, Bethpage officials agreed that modular units did
not provide the best environment for the program's demands and would provide
no cost savings. Finally, they also determined that eliminating elementary com­puter
labs would represent a large step backwards in what has been a strong
technology program and would ultimately contradict the community's commit­ment
toward technology made in the last facilities bond.
Capitalizing on a State 'Gift' to Minimize the Cost
Assistant Superintendent for Business Joseph Marchesiello projected that the
total cost for the expansion (including furniture and "soft cost" construction
contingency expenses such as design, legal, and non-direct construction costs)
(Continued on page 10)