Northbrook’s District 28 School Board voted Feb. 23 to extend its kindergarten to an optional full-day program without charging tuition, beginning in the 2016-2017 school year.
The Board had considered charging parents between $1,000 and $3,000 tuition. Instead, it voted to fund the full-day program by enacting a series of fees for all students, though the parents of participating kindergartners will by far pay the most — $545 next year, increasing to nearly $600 in two years.
Elementary and middle school students will also be charged $70 and $75, respectively, next year. Those fees will increase another $50 the following year.
“I would prefer there be no fee,” Board member Tracy Katz Muhl said. “But we’ve got to get this program off the ground.”
In addition to a $475 kindergarten fee, parents of kindergartners will also have to pay the $70 fee for younger students, according to Supt. Larry Hewitt. That means they will pay a total of $545 next year, and $595 in 2017-2018 when the fee for all students increases, he said.
The passage of the plan by a 5-0 vote, with two members absent, drew a round of applause from parents in the audience, many of whom had opposed tuition.
“I’m thrilled. It’s a win for everyone,” said Mara Silver-Schack, mother of a 2017 kindergartner and another ready in about five years. “I think the Board did a really good job, staying responsible to the budget and still making it accessible to the public.”
Marie Junkmann had earlier threatened to keep her kindergartner at home in the afternoons if tuition was instituted.
“I’m pleased with the result,” she said. “This is more affordable.”
But Nancy Goodman, who brought up two children in the district, didn’t see any difference between tuition and a fee, except in the degree.
“I was pleased to see that the tuition fee was reduced significantly, but I feel that the solution does not resolve the central issue that public education should be free,” she said.
She said she’s aware that many school districts charge high fees, but this one, she said, “feels like a fee just to be able to walk in the door of the class.”
The full-day program will cost the district approximately $724,000 a year, Hewitt said, a figure that includes money needed to cover revenue lost from kindergarten parents no longer paying for extended-day care.
Hewitt had earlier estimated the program would cost $850,000. The Board trimmed that figure by lowering its projected salaries for the 5.5 kindergarten teachers it plans to hire for the full-day program, after comparing those salaries with pay for similar positions within the district.
Another reduction was striking the addition of a second full-time-equivalent teacher for programs like gym, art and music. That cut $76,000 per year.
“While we felt it would have been a great addition, right now it’s just not affordable,” Hewitt said a day after the vote. “But we also have PE, art and music in the morning. It’s not like they’re not going to get it — just not in the afternoon.”
Other “low-impact” cuts to district programs, Hewitt said, will save about $476,000.
The fee increases will also help pay for the program. Until now, District 28 parents have paid some of the lowest fees in the area — $20 a year for students in kindergarten and primary grades, and $25 for middle school students.
Next year, those fees will increase to $70 and $75, Hewitt said. The following year, the fees will be $120 and $125.
In comparison, officials said District 30 parents pay $120 in fees, District 31 parents pay a minimum of $305, and in District 27, fees start at $65. Most area school systems do not charge extra for full-day kindergarten, they said.
By law, Illinois parents have to be given the option of a half-day kindergarten.
In most districts, Hewitt said, very few parents opt out of full-day. He said that those in 28 who want the full-day, but can’t afford it, may be eligible for district financial aid.
Attending all day will be beneficial to students in social learning and in practicing already-learned concepts, but children who go for a half day won’t miss any significant new instruction, Asst. Supt. Kath Horvath said.
All the cuts and savings will cover the cost of kindergarten next year with nothing left over, but with a projected surplus of $86,000 in 2017-2018. That money will be used to benefit instruction in general, Hewitt said.
Twitter: @IrvLeavitt
