Original article courtesy San Mateo Daily Journal
By Sierra Lopez
Daily Journal staff
Dec 27, 2021
South San Francisco Unified School District officials are mulling over potential plans for embracing a new transitional kindergarten program that would align with state goals to broaden early education opportunities but wouldn’t come with additional state funding.
With the adoption of state Assembly Bill 130, school districts are now required to develop a plan for offering transitional kindergarten, the first year of a two-year kindergarten program, to all 4-year-olds by June 30, 2022, with full implementation by 2025-26 school year.
“It is really to create equitable opportunities for all students so that when they enter into the K-12 system they have all the skills and foundation knowledge to succeed throughout their schooling experience,” district Superintendent Dr. Shawnterra Moore said during a board meeting Wednesday, Dec. 15.
But as a community-funded district, meaning most of SSFUSD’s budget is funded through property taxes, the district will not receive state funding for taking on the new students unless the student comes from a low-income home or underserved community.
Without state funding, officials will have to develop a program that can accommodate 48 students between two classes with a ratio of one adult to 12 students by 2023 under its existing budget.
Ted O, assistant superintendent of Business Services, said the district will receive $200,000 in one-time funding from the state and could be eligible for an additional state-backed grant of up to $200,000 for infrastructure needs such as retrofitting a building or for paying teacher wages. But the district would have to match whatever contribution they receive.
“I’m keenly aware we’re going to have to pull some kind of magic with that if we’re going to apply for the funding,” board Vice President Mina Richardson said.
Priority for those dollars will also go to districts with the greatest number of underserved students. Those figures are based on applications for the free or reduced lunch program. Dr. Jay Spaulding, assistant superintendent of Human Resources and Student Services, said the number of students enrolled in the program has dropped from 42% to 32% in recent years due to state actions to fund school lunches for all students regardless of income levels.
“And that’s been the Catch-22. It’s amazing we have free lunch for all students but I think it may have suppressed the feeling for some families to apply for the program,” board President John Baker said.
Alternatively, a dip in enrollment that has plagued the state could be looked at as a benefit for the district which will have to determine how to make physical space for the new students, noted Spaulding. In the past eight years, the district has seen enrollment decline by nearly 13%. Kindergarten enrollment declined by more than 24% in the same period.
Community-funded districts may not face fines or other ramifications for not establishing the program within the first year, said Moore, adding that more clarity on the issue is still needed.
“I don’t want to set it up that it may not come but that is what we were told in this moment recognizing there’s still information we’re gathering,” Moore said.
To implement the program, the district has a series of options which include hiring one TK teacher for a class of 12 students, hiring a TK teacher and a classified staff member for a class of 24 or adopting a morning and evening model that would allow the district to take on 48 students a day by hiring two TK teachers who would split leading.
The first model would cost the district $110,674 per class of 12 while the second would cost $79,837 per 12 students or $159,674 for 24 and the third would cost $55,737 per class of 12 students but $222,948 overall.
Some trustees shared support for the third option but the district will need to facilitate input from the community before settling on a plan. Baker said it could be difficult to survey parents who are unaware of the potential program configurations.
“It’s really important to note the option is really going to then drive the potential demand,” Baker said.
Richardson argued a survey would fail to garner enough responses from the community, pointing to previous efforts with little interaction. Instead, she suggested the board establish a committee of parent volunteers to assess the options at greater length.
“They would bring a lot of insight we’re probably missing tonight,” Richardson said.
Ultimately, the board directed staff to survey parents and the community to gauge their interest in the options. They also directed staff to further explore the cost and personnel levels needed to implement the third option.
Moore said staff would bring back a resolution for the board to adopt when it discusses the matter next, sharing hope the state releases additional details on potential ramifications for not immediately launching the program.
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