Falls Expected to Approve 4K: Report Shows Financial Gain for District By 2nd Year of Operation

By Kay Nolan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jan. 3–MENOMONEE FALLS — School Board members are poised to approve going ahead with 4-year-old kindergarten this fall, even though few of the details have been worked out. Members who attended a workshop on Tuesday night indicated a vote on the matter is likely at Monday’s School Board meeting. If approved, the district will move forward with registration in February. Board member Anne Weiland, who favors the program because of its potential to improve school readiness skills among 4-year-olds, said she was further persuaded by a new financial report by Jim Kennedy, the district’s director of business services. Aid to offset new cost His report predicts that the financial benefit to the district from the increased enrollment will offset the cost of providing the program by its second year. And, while the first year of the program would require start-up costs, Kennedy estimated the impact on taxpayers’ 2008 tax bill to be as little as $38 for the owner of a home valued at $250,000. He estimated that taxes on the same home could be reduced by about $166 the following year, if 190 pupils are enrolled, and the corresponding additional state aid “kicks in.” The state’s Department of Public Instruction allows 4-year-olds enrolled in half-day kindergarten programs to be counted, a boon to districts such as Menomonee Falls with stagnant enrollment. “No matter how you slice it, the taxpayers won’t have to pick up the full costs of the program,” Weiland said, “because as revenue increases, some of it will shift to the state.” But many details of the proposed junior kindergarten, including where classes would be held, how many additional teachers and bus routes would be needed, and what the curriculum would be, are unknown, prompting School Board member Linda Kons to comment that, “We’re approving this program blindly, in some respects.” Superintendent Keith Marty said the program likely will be divided among classrooms in the district’s elementary schools and in area day care centers or preschools. Details of who would employ the teachers are unclear and would depend in part on where participating parents prefer to send their children. Mary Dohmeier, principal of Valley View Elementary School, said the district surveyed parents who already have children enrolled in the elementary schools and who also have preschoolers at home. About 100 of those parents responded, with about 86 saying they would take advantage of 4-year-old kindergarten, if offered. Marlene Gross-Ackeret, director of pupil services, said she’s received 14 additional inquiries from families who do not already have children in school. Marty said he predicts as many as 130 to 160 pupils might enroll this year. Dohmeier said parents who answered the survey were “pretty forthright. “They let us know if they would or wouldn’t be interested,” she said. “Some want to keep children home as long as possible. Some enroll them in preschools for two or three days a week. Some take their kids to their workplace child care centers.” But Gross-Ackeret said the district’s goal is “all about offering choices.” Menomonee Falls voters approved a $23.55 million building referendum in November that will add an estimated $83 in taxes next year for the owner of a $250,000 home. Marty said the educational and financial advantages outweigh the negative factors and that the district cannot afford to be an “island” that does not provide 4-year-old kindergarten.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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