Corbin schools considering policy to limit early admission to Kindergarten

The Corbin Independent School Systems Board of Education is considering measures to severely limit the number of students allowed to enter in kindergarten at an early age, citing loss of funding as the major impetus behind the possible move.

Board members discussed the issue during the board’s regularly monthly meeting last Thursday.

Corbin Schools Assistant Superintendent Ramona Davis presented the results of her investigation into early admissions to the board. This is the first year school systems across Kentucky have been required to offer a petition process for parents who want to enroll their children in Kindergarten at an early age.

Three children were allowed in Corbin schools early. Davis said because of funding formulas, no state funding is provided for those children, which will result in a loss of roughly $14,000.

“The intention was to provide for the truly gifted child,” Davis told the board.

“If they prove to be Kindergarten ready, and space is available, and the funding is there, we have to let them in,” Davis said.

Determining if a child is “Kindergarten ready” involves testing that looks at academic readiness along with physical and emotional abilities as well. Also, the district has to have classroom space and funding to be able to accept students early. Extra teachers do not have to be hired, for instance, to allow for a student to enter Kindergarten early if his/her admission goes over traditional class cap size.

Davis said some school districts are also giving IQ tests. If a student scores in the 95th percentile or above, they are normally considered ready for Kindergarten.

Board members seemed troubled by the loss of funding.

Board chairperson Kim Croley suggested that a special class for exceptional students be created at the Corbin Preschool Center rather than allowing early admissions.

Board member Todd Childers said he doesn’t want to craft a policy that insinuates that students automatically get in if they simply meet certain thresholds.

“Surely the law isn’t that we have to accept them,” Childers said. “I hate for us to lose money for no reason.”

Davis said there have already been quite a few calls by parents to the Board of Education’s administrative office about early entry, which she said is a cause for concern.

“We’ve had a lot of calls so far,” she said. “Word’s getting around.”

Travis Wilder, Principal at Corbin Primary School, said that while kids may strictly meet the criteria to enter Kindergarten early, sometimes it just really isn’t the optimum option.

“What we are seeing in the real world is that even those kids that are screened and they meet the criteria, they probably would have benefited from the preschool setting just to be honest with you. If we are doing what is best for kids, a Montessori or preschool setting would have been a better setting for them.”

“We don’t want to turn kids away. We’ve got gifted kids and actually, they are doing OK, but is it the right thing to do? I personally think it would be a select few who are ready for Kindergarten early.”

Davis suggested options for a new school system policy, which included:

• Raising minimum entry age to four years, nine months;

• Expanding the battery of tests utilized to determine readiness;

• Taking a closer look at the preschool setting the child is coming from, or, in the case of home schooled children, making parents prove some education actually took place;

• Charging parents of any student who enters school early tuition, which is currently $2,500.

• Requiring that petitions for early entry be made at least 30 days before classes begin for the school year.

Board member Angela Morris asked if tuition could be raised on students admitted early to offset the loss of state funding.

Davis said it could not.

Childers asked that Board Attorney Bob Hammons review the laws regarding the early entry petition process and report back to the board before any decision is made on a new policy.

No formal action was taken.

In other business, the board:

• Approved documents to send to the Kentucky Department of Education that detail the scope and cost estimate of renovations planned to take place at the Corbin Area Technology Center, located next to Corbin High School.

Current plans are to totally replace the roof, replace some HVAC systems and construct new bathrooms. Current bathrooms in the facility are too small and are not handicap accessible.

Kevin Cheek, a project engineer for Sherman-Carter-Barnhart, a Knoxville, Tenn. firm, advised the board of potential problems with the exterior walls of the building.

“The windows, they way they were designed, have created a hinge point where that loading, over time, has caused the wall to bow and created these cracks,” Cheek said.

The buildings outside walls are “unreinforced masonry” that contains no insulation. Corbin High School was constructed in a similar fashion. The Board of Education undertook a costly project with the high school to essentially replace all the exterior walls of the building in order to make them safe.

Cheek said it appears a similar situation could be in the making at the Technology Center, but cautioned it is still early.

“Every room has these [cracks] along the outside walls. Are they falling down? Those cracks have been there for a long time, we are not saying that,” Cheek said. “I think it’s prudent to go ahead at some point and monitor those if you guys want just to make sure … get a survey to see how far out they are. Sort of a ground zero. Then, if we see things start to move, we can tell how much it is moving and how fast.”

Current plans for renovations at the center are estimated to cost $1 million. Replacement of any exterior walls would be something that would be done in the future.

• Approved three student field trips, including a non-instructional field trip to Orlando, Fla. For members of the cheerleading team in early Feb.

Morris said she was opposed to approving such trips in the future unless they are directly tied to Kentucky High School Athletic Association sanctioned events.

“There’s all kinds of tournaments and everything out there and if we just let everybody go and get off school for who knows whatever competition, I don’t think that’s quite fair to our other students,” she said. “I think that’s not appropriate for us to do.”

• Approved applications for a Read to Achieve grant ($48,500), and a Kentucky Waste Tire Crumb Rubber grant ($73,801).

• Approved a contract for 2014 with the city of Corbin to operate the Corbin Center for Technology and Community Activities.

• Accepted offer of assistance from the Kentucky School Facilities Construction Commission for $111,069. Corbin Schools Superintendent Ed McNeel said the money must be used as annual debt service on bonds for proposed construction or major renovation of school facilities.