BY CHARLEE BEASOR
BROWNSBURG — In a continued effort to creatively raise revenue, the Brownsburg Community School Corporation school board passed a recommendation to approve a full day kindergarten for tuition program at their regular board meeting Monday night.
The program will allow parents to decide if they want to enroll their students in full day kindergarten for a fee, or keep their children in alternate day kindergarten for no fee.
Board member Kim Armstrong said the fee is still being determined.
“This program will allow parents to choose to go full day every day,” Armstrong said. “Parents still have a choice, as long as there is interest in an alternate day program. We’re still working on the cost.”
Currently, there is no fee for students who are at-risk or jump start students and that would continue to be the case at Brownsburg.
Armstrong said those students need the extra attention and usually end up catching up to the rest of the students their age.
“I know of two kids that started out as high-risk kids and then went on to the high ability program later,” she said.
Superintendent Kathy Corbin said the program would help students academically and help the school financially.
“One of the things that makes this good is that it is academically the right thing to do,” Corbin said. “Full day kindergarten has shown children getting a better start. This will also help with the economic ramifications and the ability to help us in that regard. The payments will cover the teacher costs, starting costs, it helps us in that economic way. We have the space for this ... this is an academically effective program and an economic boost.”
Armstrong added that the school would be willing to accept monthly payments for the kindergarten program, while some school corporations only accept lump sum payments at the beginning of each semester.
She also said the full day program would be an all-day academic program.
“It will be an all day academic situation, not half-day care,” she said.
In other business, the school board:
n Approved a recommendation for an expanded pre-school education program;
n Approved a recommendation to enter into an agreement for a graduation coach by and between the Community Action of Greater Indianapolis, Inc., and the BCSC. That position is paid for by stimulus funds and will go to someone who might possibly not have a job next year or someone new to the corporation;
n Approved the 2010-11 master contract with the Brownsburg Classroom Teachers’ Association, which the board and the teachers’ association had been working on for more than a year.
The next school board meeting is 6:30 p.m. March 22 in the Brown Elementary School cafeteria, where community members will be able to give the board input on the search for a new superintendent.
charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com
