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Board explores pre-K committee, kindergarten registration glitches and outreach to boost enrollment
Summary
Board members proposed a community stakeholder committee to improve preschool readiness, discussed technical issues with kindergarten registration and considered earlier marketing and registration events to make district programs more competitive with private and cyber options.
Board members discussed early-childhood readiness, kindergarten registration problems tied to a new student-information system and possible outreach and marketing to increase district kindergarten enrollment.
Dr. Bassett, a district administrator, said members had raised concerns that some children are arriving at kindergarten unprepared for classroom expectations. He proposed establishing a stakeholder committee of pre-K providers, day-care operators, medical professionals, counselors and kindergarten teachers to identify gaps and coordinate supports. “My thought process is we develop somewhat of a committee… comprised of all the stakeholders,” he said, adding that parents should be part of the work.
Board members cautioned that starting a district-run pre-K would have financial implications and could affect private providers; they said the committee should explore options without displacing existing local businesses. The board asked administrators to invite retired educators, Head Start representatives and kindergarten teachers to participate.
On kindergarten registration, administrators said the district moved from eSchoolData to Synergy for its student information system and the first night of digital registration experienced technical problems that have since been corrected. The district said it will hold additional registration events at the central office on the ninth and tenth of the month for families needing help, and that paper options and photo uploads are available as workarounds when required fields prevented progress.
Board members also discussed outreach to families earlier in the year to showcase kindergarten programming and suggested offering classroom tours, evening sessions for working parents, or earlier summer orientation to give families a more personal connection to the school. Administrators said logistical constraints (building capacity and parking) complicate mid-day classroom visits but that evening or summer events and tutorials could be expanded for the next school year to make the district more competitive with private and cyber-school options.
No formal policy changes were adopted during the session; board members asked administration to form the stakeholder list and return with a proposed committee structure and outreach plan.
