Utah Senate OKs full-day kindergarten bill, school officials mull expansion
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Loading... - Sascha Esser
- 07 Mar 2023
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With Senate approval of a measure meant to expand full-day kindergarten in Utah schools, officials from the Weber, Ogden and Davis school districts are excited about the possibilities.An advocate who pushed for the legislation, meantime, expects “several hundred new FDK classrooms” in Utah in the 2023-2024 school year thanks to the legislation. Gov. Spencer Cox still has to sign House Bill 477 into law, but his administration “has been a vocal supporter of full-day kindergarten,” said Anna Thomas with Voices for Utah Children — and she expects action.
Weber School District spokesperson Lane Findlay said school officials will wait for the bill to be signed into law before taking action, but they’re looking into the possibilities. “Discussions are already taking place on how we can accommodate it at each school. Overall, we’re in pretty good shape to bring this on,” he said Friday.
Ogden School District has been a leader in Utah in implementation of full-day kindergarten offerings, and superintendent Luke Rasmussen spoke about the importance of an expanded day for young students, particularly those from lower-income families. In the 2021-2022 school year, 34% of Utah kindergarteners overall had access to full-day school offerings compared to 88.2% in the Ogden system and 82% nationwide, according to Utah Full Day Kindergarten Now, which has pushed for change.
“As a Title I district, a concerning number of our students enter kindergarten below the standard educational level for children their age. Full-day kindergarten boosts the chances for these students to improve their foundational literacy and numeracy skills so they can enter first grade on a path for success rather than spending years continually trying to catch up to their peers,” Rasmussen said.
Many schools offer only partial-day kindergarten or a mix of partial- and full-day kindergarten. Read More…
