Arlington Public Schools Eliminates Full-Day Kindergarten Fees
All fees collected for the current school year will be refunded to parents, according to the district.
The following is from the Arlington Public Schools. Check back with Arlington Patch later today for the full story, and see School Committee member Paul Schlichtman's blog for more details.
Arlington Public Schools Eliminate Fees for Full-day Kindergarten
The Arlington Public Schools announced today that full-day Kindergarten fees are being eliminated for the current school year. This change has been made possible thanks to support from the Town of Arlington, which has agreed to provide additional funding to cover this year’s kindergarten fees in anticipation of increased state aid next fiscal year. All fees collected for the 2012-2013 school year will be refunded to parents.
Under the state’s current educational funding formula, which was recently adjusted, offering free full-day Kindergarten will increase Arlington’s Chapter 70 aid during the 2013-2014 fiscal year. The expected increase in Chapter 70 aid will fully offset the cost of this year’s Kindergarten fees.
“Full-day Kindergarten has been available in Arlington schools since September 1997, and we are pleased to be able to now fully provide it through our school and town budgets,” said Dr. Kathleen Bodie, Superintendent of Schools. “We are grateful to the Town of Arlington and its Finance Committee for supporting this effort, and helping us make Kindergarten a full-day program for all students.”
Menotomy
12:22 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Fabulous. Well, good for those who have their kids just about to go into kindergarten but rueful for those of us who had a kindergartner go through last year (and in years prior.) That's $5,600 I really could have used...
Instead of just refunding all of the '12-'13 school year funds how about retaining them and dividing them up equally as a rebate for those that have paid those fees since they were instituted? On the face of it that would be more fair.
BD
7:29 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Yeah, just let the taxpayers pay for other peoples' kids!
Concerned
9:43 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
What about vouchers for families that send their children to private schools? A long overdue policy.
Laurie
7:50 am on Saturday, September 15, 2012
Amazing how people turn good news into something to complain about. This is a blessing for some people and we as a town should feel proud that we support our families. If my tax money is going to help kids then YAY! We all win when kids benefit. And vouchers are just going to pull money away from public schools. Instead of sending your child to a private school, why not spend the money and some time on improving the schools in your area?