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FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District is considering full-day kindergarten at all 20 of its elementary schools.
A presentation was scheduled for Tuesday's school board meeting on the additional costs and changes that would be needed to implement such a program.
A vote isn't expected, but board members and administrators will have an opportunity to discuss the viability of such a proposal, school board president Heidi Haas told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/1zwNJn3 ).
Three nontraditional charter and magnet schools offer full-day kindergarten, and the high number of applications at those schools indicates an appetite for that option, Haas said. For example, Barnett Magnet School had 130 to 140 applications for about 40 spots last year, she said.
"What we've heard from the community is not only does the community want us to have all-day kindergarten, but to meet the new Alaska State Standards, we're going to have to have more than 4.5 hours a day," Haas said.
But not all board members think the program is the way to go, but Haas hopes the group will discuss whether to include it in the district's budget.
Cost estimates for a districtwide program range from about $1.5 million to $4 million, depending on class size. The board has been discussing the idea for years, but money has always held it up, Haas said. Without outside funding, the proposal won't be able to move forward, she said.
The district is looking at grant options and to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
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