LYNN — Hearing no strong argument for the advantages of making changes to the school district’s pre-kindergarten program next year, School Committee members opted to wait until their Jan. 30 meeting to make a decision.
The district’s current early childhood program model is a two/three-day split, where students have a full day of classes two to three days a week.
The panel was considering a change to a five-day, half-day schedule. Another option discussed was for students to have four, half-day classes per week, with a fifth day reserved as a parent/teacher support day.
“I didn’t hear a hard sell on anything,” Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said Thursday night following a presentation from Phylitia Jamerson, the district’s administrator of special education.
“There are pros and cons to both. At the end of the day, they’re pretty similar. Some people find challenges around childcare with the current model. I don’t think it’s the perfect model. We want the children to be served well.”
Tutwiler made the recommendation that the committee have another two weeks to make a decision, which would give school administrators time to provide more information on the program model options.
But a decision on whether to change to a half-day model has to be made quickly by the committee, or the district won’t have enough time to make revisions to more than 170 Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in order for the schedule change to be implemented next school year.
That was the scenario the committee found itself in last May when members were last tasked with voting on a change in the program schedule. At the time, the panel indicated its preferred option was a five-day, half-day model, but opted to keep the current two/three-day split for an additional year because there was not enough time to adjust IEPs.
“It’s helpful to come to us at this time to give us time to make a decision,” said School Committee member Jared Nicholson. “I’m struggling with a lack of data. A lot of the pros and cons are viable empirically, but not (with the) data we have.”
Some of the advantages for a two/three-day split is that a longer school day builds stamina for students, attendance increases and related service providers have additional time to service special education students throughout the day.
But it creates a long school day for a 3-year-old, which is the starting age for special education students, and the model lacks the consistency of consecutive school days that a five-day A.M./P.M. model would provide.
However, a five-day, half-day model would increase transportation costs to the district by $165,000 annually. In addition, it would provide less time for special education students to receive direct services because of more breaks in the school day, such as for breakfast and gym, Jamerson said.
Committee members Donna Coppola, Lorraine Gately and Michael Satterwhite all indicated they would vote in favor of a switch to a half-day model.
Coppola said many parents need IEP services that the pre-K program would provide, but couldn’t take part in a two/three-day program because they couldn’t find childcare for the remaining weekdays.
Satterwhite said the consistency that a five-day model would provide is important and would allow for a teacher to build a relationship with a child every day. That familiarity with a teacher could serve as a confidence booster for a student.
While committee member John Ford said he thinks a full day program for a 3-year-old can take away his or her childhood, Mayor Thomas M. McGee, chairman of the committee, had a different perspective.
“My kids went to full day every day at 3 years old and did fine,” said McGee. “I think it depends on the individual.”
Under the current model, there are nine self-contained pre-K programs for special education students based on their IEP needs, and 13 integrated pre-K programs, which serve a mix of special education and regular education students.
Typically, a special education student starts out in a two-day program and is then moved to a three-day. The five-full day classroom is reserved for students who need a higher level of support. No matter how the committee votes, there would be no changes to the district’s seven self-contained five-full day classrooms, Tutwiler said.
By law, the school district is mandated to serve 3-5-year-olds who are eligible for special education, but Lynn Public Schools is not required to serve regular education students who aren’t eligible to start pre-K until age 4. Regular education slots are determined by a lottery.