When is a full day of kindergarten school class better than a half day of class?

When the state of Michigan says it is and says it will reduce by half the amount of per student funding it will provide school districts who decide otherwise.

But is it really that much better to have 5-year-old kids in class for eight hours a day?

We will soon find out as the Dearborn School District races toward making the state-required switch to a full day of school for kindergarten kids, which could occur as early as the fall of 2009 here. Not making the switch means the potential loss of millions of dollars in state school funding. It won’t be an easy change as Dearborn school officials are now discovering, trying to grapple with the challenges associated with a longer school days. 

The change is part of new state rule set to be implemented in the fall of 2009 for “developmental kindergarten” classes and in the fall of 2010 for traditional kindergarten classes. While the Dearborn district doesn’t offer developmental kindergarten, a special committee is looking at what it would take to begin the longer school day in the fall of 2009 rather than waiting until fall 2010.

Among the challenges Dearborn faces:

1. Some schools lack the space required to operate full-day kindergarten classrooms
2. Deciding which elementary schools will convert to full day kindergarten classes and which ones will not
3. Having to hire more teachers to handle the longer day
4. Additional materials

School districts across Michigan are facing similar challenges with the new rule. School districts have the option of not changing anything and continuing with half days for kindergarten kids. But doing so means the loss of  millions of dollars in state funding per child. Under the new rules, the state will reduce by half the amount it pays per child in a school district if the child doesn’t attend a full day of kindergarten school.

For the Dearborn school district, which has about 1,000 kindergarten students at about $8,000 per child, not making the change would result in a loss of some $4 million annually.

The change to a longer school day for kindergarten kids already has parents and teachers lining up on both side of this issue and has the potential to get ugly. While some parents like the idea, an equal number of parents and teachers do not. As one Dearborn school official told us, “this is going to get very interesting.”

Indeed it will.