NORTH ATTLEBORO — Parents will be able to sign their children up for free, all-day kindergarten this fall, a first for local schools.
In an email sent to parents and community members on Friday, Corrine Brems, curriculum director for the school district, said all students would be eligible for a “high quality, full-day kindergarten experience at no cost.”
Families who previously paid the $100 deposit or tuition for the 2021-2022 school year will receive a reimbursement, Berms wrote.
While the schools had offered half-day kindergarten in the past, universal free all-day kindergarten and its costs have been a topic of debate for years in town. This year, school board members strongly favored making it available to local students.
The board waived the $3,000 tuition for kindergarten this academic year when schools reopened in hybrid form in September. They said it was unfair to charge parents when students were not actually in classes for part of the week.
But the town has long been one of the minority of school systems in the state that did not offer free education before first grade.
While the school department included free kindergarten in its fiscal year 2022 budget, it was not initially part of the final, “level-services” $48.8 million school budget proposal by Town Manager Michael Borg and presented to the town council earlier this year.
However, Superintendent Scott Holcomb told school board members last month that “we have the option to offer universal, free kindergarten” for at least the next two and possibly three school years by using federal grants.
Committee Chairman Ethan Hamilton said it was a sign the town was “moving in the right direction.”
This past week, after ongoing talks with the school department, Borg told the town council that the town would shift $100,000 from another municipal account to help the school cover kindergarten costs.
Borg said having a school department that offered free kindergarten could be an important factor in attracting businesses and new residents.
He told the council that he and the school department were “working through a number of issues to make sure we are on same sheet of music.”
Only 38 of 316 districts in Massachusetts currently charge tuition for kindergarten classes, ranging from $1,750 to $5,000, according to the advocacy group Early Education for All.
In her email, Berms told parents who have registered their students for kindergarten in the fall that they will receive information in the coming months on school placement.
Parents who have not registered should visit the schools “Kindergarten Information” page to begin the registration process.
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North Attleboro schools will offer free, all-day kindergarten - The Sun Chronicle
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