MUKILTEO — Most parents who will be enrolling a student in kindergarten in the Mukilteo School District over the next few years are willing to support a switch in schedules from a half-day every day to a full-day alternating day program.
However, roughly 40 percent don’t like the idea and want the district to look elsewhere to save money.
That’s the upshot of a district-wide survey presented to the Mukilteo School Board Monday night.
The district received 757 written and electronic mail surveys between Jan. 9 and 21.
Of those, 437 were from parents with a child who will be attending kindergarten in the near future. Among those parents:
34.2 percent like the idea and have no concerns with the switch.
27.2 percent had some concerns but were willing to support it.
38.6 percent don’t like the idea and want the district to cut other programs. When the kindergarten parents were combined with the others who filled out the survey, the results of the change are slightly more favorable. Roughly two-thirds of the total number said they had no concern or some concern but would support the change.
The change is proposed because it would save up to $150,000 a year in transportation costs at a time when the district needs to cut expenses.
The school board heard from several parents, and an employee said Monday he was concerned about the proposal. Jaime Cullum, a district bus driver, said the board should consider safety in its decision-making process.
"An effect of eliminating these routes would be the addition of some 200 high-maintenance bus-riding students to existing a.m. and p.m. bus routes," he said. "Some of these routes are already past the limits of passenger comfort and pushing the bounds of safety due to the fact that there is a nationwide driver shortage."
Michelle Andres, a mother who volunteers in her child’s kindergarten class, was among several parents to speak. She was particularly concerned for children who have trouble focusing for an entire school day. "For these children who have a little more difficulty, the everyday routine seems to help them," she said.
A committee of district employees and parents studied whether the switch to alternating days would affect academic progress. It couldn’t find any recent studies, although there is research that shows higher academic achievement for kindergartners enrolled in full-day, everyday programs.
About a third of parents with children entering kindergarten soon said they have no concerns. The biggest concerns among the others were:
18.9 percent said no daily contact with the teacher.
14.2 percent felt the school day would be too long.
10.3 percent said it would cause disruptions to their child’s child care schedule.
7.5 percent said the schedule would be confusing.
17.6 percent had other concerns.
The school board is expected to make a decision in February.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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