Board holds informational review of Green Hills TK/K and multi-age kindergarten; no action taken

The Eureka Union Board held an informational discussion about the Green Hills TK/K program and its multi-age kindergarten model but took no formal action.

Alana Johnson, principal of Green Hills, described the site's current schedule (TK and K attending roughly 315 minutes daily, which the school classifies as an extended-day model) and outlined the multi-age classroom structure (groups of K–2 in a combined classroom with two teachers for about 45 students). Johnson said the model supports intervention and strong student-teacher relationships and highlighted recent gains in ELA proficiency and reductions in students not meeting standards.

Board members and staff noted the tradeoffs. Trustees and district staff observed that Green Hills kindergarteners receive about 27 fewer instructional days per year than students at other TK–3 sites under the current schedule, and several trustees said that parity of instructional minutes merits consideration. Administrators explained that changes to the Green Hills schedule could affect intervention delivery, multi-age classroom logistics and family access to after-school care.

Public comment was lengthy and divided. Multiple Green Hills parents and current and former teachers described the program's strengths and urged its preservation. Other parents and several kindergarten teachers described students who would benefit from additional instructional time and called attention to out-of-pocket costs for STAR care when kindergarteners finish earlier. Green Hills teachers warned that changing the schedule without a concrete plan could threaten the multi-age program's viability.

The board did not vote; trustees directed staff to gather more specific data (detailed minutes breakdown for the final hour, cost and staffing analyses, impacts on multi-age structure and recommendations for possible phased rollouts) before bringing a decision to a future meeting.