The youngest kids in kindergarten are more likely to struggle than their older classmates, and those struggles can continue through high school.
That was the message from kindergarten teachers to the Ignacio School Board on April 24. They want an earlier cutoff date for kids to turn 5 to be eligible to start kindergarten.
The board approved a change in the cutoff date from Oct. 1 to Aug. 1, effective this fall. The date also is the cutoff for kids to turn six to enter first grade. The policy lists situations where exceptions may be allowed, such as for "highly advanced gifted" students.
"We have students who are very young and very immature," Elementary School Principal Karl Herr said. Ignacio's cutoff for a kid to turn five has been Oct. 1, so some kids were still four when they started school. Bayfield's cutoff is Sept. 15, and Durango is Sept. 1, Herr said. In the San Luis Valley, the cutoff is June 1.
Teacher Carrie Kirkpatrick said, "We've had several four-year-olds start. This year I had five out of 19. One turned five on Oct. 1. The way expectations have changed (for what kids do in kindergarten), we feel these kids are just not ready for kindergarten."
Teacher Laura Hillyer said they researched how the August and September birthday kids were doing. Out of those who turned five in August, 18 of 38 needed special intervention. For kids who turned five in September, it was 15 of 33.
"We tracked five who waited (until the next year to start kindergarten); 100 percent were in the highest reading groups in their class," Hillyer said. She cited a university study that showed the oldest kids in a class have a definite advantage over the younger kids. The study showed that advantage continues all the way through high school, she said.
So what happens to the late birthday kids if they don't start kindergarten?
Teacher Denise Richmond said if the district changes its cutoff date, there is a process for the Head Start to get funding to have those kids for another year.
Richmond cited the READ Act, which sets standards for kids learning to read. The late birthday kids aren't meeting even the minimum requirements, she said. "If they have another year of growth, they might do much better than the minimum. ... We don't want them to meet just the minimum requirements."
Herr said around seven Head Start kids would be affected this fall with an Aug. 1 cutoff date, or two kids with a Sept. 1 cutoff.
Board member Troy Webb was leery of depending on Head Start being able to get funding in a timely manner to keep the late birthday kids for another year. "There could be a year of a kid sitting at home," he said. But he supported the change to Aug. 1.
Board member Agnes Sanchez added that not every young child in the district goes to Head Start.
Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto said Head Start has to get the funding waiver from the federal government. "We'd have to wait a year for them to get that" before enforcing an earlier cutoff date, he said. "Parents will have one year to deal with it."
Board president Toby Roderick asserted that the feds won't deny the Head Start funding waiver. "The precedent is already set. I don't see a problem expecting a higher level of maturity for kindergarten kids. Some Aug. 1 five-year-olds aren't ready. An arbitrary date won't be one size fits all. But Oct. 1 seems ridiculously late. A four-year-old is too young to be in that social setting," he said.
Herr said, "This is a balancing act always. I've had parents say, 'Thank God my kid can go to kindergarten so we don't have to pay for day care.' Is that our role, to be day care for kids who aren't ready?"
He continued, "We are in year four of (state-mandated) priority improvement. We're working like dogs to get ahead. We're stretched very thin when it comes to providing resources for those most needy kids."
Kirkpatrick added, "When we have these kids who aren't ready, it takes away from our instruction in the classroom. The kids who are ready to take off, we can't spend the time with them. We think there will be less and less of the tier 2 and 3 kids (who need intervention) if they wait" to start kindergarten.
Herr said, "As proud as we are of things we are doing, the wider the gap (among students in a class), the more kids at the lower end, the thinner you are spread. It's harder to close the gap for the struggling students."
Hillyer said intervention classes are overflowing. "The younger they are, the more time and effort they are taking to meet grade expectations."
There was concern about making sure parents know the change is coming, so they can prepare.
Hillyer commented, "Even if you wait a year, there will be people who say they never heard about it."
Board member Bobby Schurman said of the debate, "You are splitting hairs. We're talking about seven kids this year. Maybe next year it will be 15. I think there are way too many parents who would bring their kids at age three if they could. Move (the date) now. Deal with it."
