In our town you have to pay $4k for full day K, which is fine BUT what about the families that don't get a slot in their home school. They can go to another elementary school in town for a full day slot but have to drive and pick up, no bus. There is no priority for kids who went to full day preschool at their home elementary, families that work full time or even for families with a sibling in the school. The choices are to drive 2nd child to separate school or take half day (2.5 hours) and hire a nanny for the rest of the day? There is a waitlist but slots never open. Any ideas on how the town could handle this differently?
There are not enough kids to open a second class at the home school. Also, half day kids cannot access aftercare because they are done at 11:30a.
There is no way to do this differently. Working parents have no greater right to those slots than families that have one parent staying home.
Personally I would go with the home school regardless because at least there is a bus taking them there and then find one of the million preschools that pick up the kids for the afternoon.
Your town could raise everyone's taxes so they could build a new school and hire new teachers and administrators.
Most working parents I know use on site after school care or a nanny/sitter or child care facility that transports kids to and from school. Seems easier than having kids in two different schools.
ETA: I guess I didn't really answer your question, but how could they really do it differently? There are a limited number of spots, and it really wouldn't be fair to families with only one child, or kids who didn't attend preschool, not to have the same shot at a spot, right? Seems like a lottery is the only truly fair way to handle it.
Don't understand why they do that. Should just have half or whole day K. Kid goes to home school based on where you live. Very simple. I think this is how it works almost all over.
This is not uncommon. Happens here in NV as well. The only way is to make full-day K universal, which is what parents and educators are pushing for in our state.
As others have mentioned, stay at your home school, and if you child does not get FDK, arrange for aftercare until you can pick up. Almost all public schools have a program in place for such aftercare, or you can hire a nanny or sitter for those few hours.
I'm actually glad to hear that they don't have special priority for those already in the school, because those are the kinds of things that make it impossible for new students to get in and make the lotteries unfair. It sounds like a fair system. IF taking the kids to two different schools is a problem you could also pull the first kid out and send them to the other school with the younger child. People often see things as unfair when they are not the ones to benefit from it, but from what you describe it sounds like your town is handling this is the fairest way possible.
If I understand this correctly, some kids do half day K and some full day, depending on the school? If it must be a lottery system due to available slots, then I think making everyone even (blind draw) is the only way to be fair. If you don't like it, this is something to discuss with the PTA. Perhaps other parents can join you in lobbying for a different or unified system for kindergarten.
How they could handle it differently would be to either have only half day or full day options, and have before/aftercare on site for the parents to use. Our district is full day K across the board, and if I needed to have her in care til 6PM, I would hire the program that is offered at the school. The downside is there is very little wiggle room to attend a different school other than the one assigned by your address.
Once your town figures it out, have them call the rest of the towns that do half or part day kindergarten.
Many schools offer an after school program, yet many do not start until the 1st-5th get out. There is not even the $4K option from 12-3 or 8-12 depending on the time your child gets.
I wish they would just do the full day kinder and give the kids long naps or something allowing the families to work and pick up multiple kids at the same time or allow them to take the bus home.
In our elementary school they had a pre-k/k afternoon program that was an extended care class for the kids who only had half day K. It was a perfect fit and was run by the pre-k teacher, so most of the kids had already had her as a pre-k teacher before K. Some parents signed up for the full-day K class, but a lot of us did half day with extended care. It's great, because the kids are still learning, but it's not as strenuous as a kindergarten class. It was perfect for working parents too. You had to pay for the pre-k class, but you could also decide to only do a few days a week. It was more of a drop in care class.
A lottery is a lottery - there can't be special preferences that deprive some kids of the opportunity just because they may have a stay-at-home parent or a sibling. That's not fair to the other families.
The problem you face with half-day kindergarten is the same one faced by parents with kids in half-day preschool - what to do with the other half of the day. Those half days, the days the programs are closed for teacher in-service days, the school vacations, and the snow days are all challenges for working parents or those with multiple children. Frustrating but not unique.
Our district has an early drop-off program that accommodates working parents or those who are driving 2 kids to 2 different schools. It's paid for by the parents who use it, and it has a certified teacher in charge of it (but not a teacher involved in the regular classrooms).
Sometimes other organizations (the Y, the JCC, etc.) offer half-day programs for kids doing half-day kindergarten. Our JCC did one for years, sometimes with bus service (if on a regular bus route from the elementary schools) or with their own van. Kids could be enrolled 2, 3 or 5 days. Of course, in home care with a nanny is an option used by different families. Some offset that cost by having their nanny watch another child as well (for a fee - no different from regular babysitting).
