Marshfield School District to Expand 4K Program
Thursday, April 11th, 2019 -- 7:48 AM
(WDLB) -The Marshfield School District's four-year-old kindergarten program will expand this year.With one member absent, the Board of Education voted 5-to-1 last night in favor of adding up to two 4-K sections at Madison Elementary this fall. Last night's vote came after the board committed a two-hour special meeting to the topic Monday night. Even though she voted to move ahead with 4-K expansion this fall, Dorothy Chaney said the district needs a clearer vision and strategic 4-K plan moving forward. Amber Kiggens-Leifheit said adding a 4-K option at Madison is the only true way the district can expand its program for those parents who need wrap-around--or all-day--care.
At Monday's special meeting, Superintendent Dr. Ryan Christianson shared up-to-date enrollment figures for this fall, which are running at a more than two-to-one margin in favor of morning sessions versus the afternoon. For many years, the district had a community-based four-year-old kindergarten program running out of local daycare sites. For the past two years, the district has operated a blended program, after adding a 4-K option at Washington Elementary. Leifheit said that gave more parents more choices--which is exactly what the program needs again. But more than that, Leifheit said a bigger investment in four-year-old kindergarten will make the overall program better--and she said the district will see a return on that investment.
Along with voting to expand the 4-K program to Madison Elementary this fall, the School Board also last night officially adopted a blended program between school and community sites, and voted in favor of adding a fulltime four-year-old kindergarten teacher.
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