Residents Speak out in Favor of Full-Day Kindergarten at Moon

Township residents last night expressed support for a full-day kindergarten program in the , one week before the district's kindergarten round-up program gets underway. 

One parent told Moon Area School Board members that she is reconsidering enrolling her daughter in Moon's current half-day kindergarten because she believes students are not getting enough instructional time in the program. 

The district has been exploring the option of offering  since 2007, but school board members have expressed concern that budget constraints in the upcoming academic year may prevent the district from adopting the program. 

Parents can enroll their children in Moon Area's kindergarten program next week during its annual kindergarten round-up. No decision has yet been made on whether the program will span half-day or full-day. 

"There are a lot of parents who are scratching their heads and saying this is not what we were told at the fall [school board election] campaign," said resident Steve Bloom before the board. 

School board member Gia Tatone said during the board's education committee report that she is in favor of implementing a full-day program, but that the district must first finalize its 2012 budget and building renovations. 

"There needs to be a strong focus on finalizing the budget and making sure that the middle school is completed," she said. "We also need to address the needs of [upcoming] Allard and Hyde renovations and moving fifth grade [into the new middle school] and seeing to it that all issues are well organized." 

Parent Michelle Conrad said she attended the meeting on behalf of a larger group of concerned parents, saying that students enrolled in a half-day program can fall behind in mathematics and other concepts. 

"They deserve more. They deserve better," Conrad said. 

District teachers and administrators last month board members to adopt the program. 

"We were all under the impression that [full-day kindergarten] was a done deal," Conrad said. "If there's anyway to let people know one way or the other. It's the time period that's key for parents." 

Enrollment for the  begins March 26 at . Click for more details. 

Do you think the Moon Area School District should adopt full-day kindergarten? Click to vote in our poll. 

Other items from the meeting: 

• The board exonerated the Moon and Crescent Township elected tax collectors from the collection of unpaid 2011 real estate taxes. 

• The board approved change orders related to the middle school renovation project at an additional cost of $42,707.36. 

• The board tabled a motion to award a bid for moving supplies and furniture into the new middle school.

• The board approved an award for bids for technical education equipment and window treatments for the new middle school at a total cost of $231,161. 

• The school board approved a series of student trips and honored both its gymnastics team for capturing the 2012 WPIAL Championship and the cast of the high school's most recent musical

• The board heard an update on continuing work at its softball and baseball fields. Brian Fulkerson, project manager with Eckles Construction Services Inc., could not provide school board members with a date of completion for the fields, even as baseball and softball seasons near. District Superintendent Donna Milanovich said she has concerns about the baseball field's drainage and grass, and believes landscapers need to be called in to address the uneven level of the field. Fulkerson said a surveyor will need to be called to the softball field for a third time before base anchors can be installed. He said pins to mark the base locations have been moved. The additional surveying work will not be of additional cost to the district.