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Timberlane board asks for cost and evidence as full-day kindergarten option is explored
Summary
Superintendent Justin presented the district's current kindergarten model and preliminary fiscal impacts of switching to universal full-day kindergarten. Trustees asked for a clear cost analysis, enrollment scenarios and evidence of educational benefits before advancing a warrant article or policy change.
Superintendent Justin told the Timberlane Regional School District board that the district currently operates a tuition-free half-day kindergarten with a tuition option for full day and that, as of this school year, 216 kindergarten students are enrolled across four schools. He said the district's FY26 operating budget supports 12.5 kindergarten teacher FTEs, 12 paraeducator FTEs and transportation and facilities costs tied to the current model.
Justin said the district collected about $709,000 in kindergarten tuition from families in fiscal 2024 and roughly $541,000 in fiscal 2025. He explained three fiscal impacts of a universal full-day change: the district would lose family tuition revenue, it would gain additional state adequacy funding (a one-time bridge grant in the transition year and then full adequacy per student thereafter), and administration would need to reassess staffing levels to meet full-day schedules.
Board members pressed for concrete numbers. Mark and others asked for a clear line-by-line cost analysis for FY27 and beyond; Jack and other trustees sought enrollment scenarios showing how many additional classrooms or staff would be required. Justin said the district could grow to maintain 260 kindergarten seats with modest staffing changes (adding a half-time teacher FTE and converting two halftime paraeducator positions to full time), and that administration was still calculating the net dollar impact after subtracting lost tuition and adding new adequacy revenue.
Trustees also raised nonfinancial issues. Jack suggested the district produce a one-page brochure explaining the educational benefits and downstream outcomes of full-day kindergarten (early identification of learning needs, social-emotional development, and potential long-term reductions in remediation). Several members stressed the importance of surveying families to understand whether half-day attendance is driven by preference or by inability to pay tuition.
Justin recommended bringing back a transparent cost projection and evidence about educational impacts before the board takes next steps. The board unanimously directed administration to continue work on numbers, to prepare materials for public circulation, and to return with recommendations and comparative data at a future meeting.
The superintendent noted that if citizens pursue a warrant article to fund a full-day model, it would be treated as a cost warrant article requiring majority approval and that any petition should be clear and grounded in an accurate cost estimate.
