A movement toward an all-day kindergarten program is picking up steam in Palmerton Area School District.

Dan Heaney, Palmerton’s director of curriculum, instruction and technology, gave a brief presentation during a recent school board workshop, outlining the reasons why the district is proposing extending the day for kindergarten students and the costs associated with the initiative. “Some of the main advantages are it allows more time for group and individualized instruction, hands-on activities and fine motor activities which are crucial at that age,” Heaney said. “Many students also have no preschool experience, which makes that jump to first grade difficult.”As one of only two Carbon County school districts, Panther Valley being the other one, still only sending students to kindergarten for a half-day, Palmerton loses out on at least three hours of instructional time for its students.“Right now, kindergarten students get about two hours and 15 minutes of instructional activities, and that would jump to five hours and 15 minutes,” Heaney said.What would it take?According to Palmerton’s projections, one additional teacher would be needed at Towamensing Elementary School, two at Parkside Education Center and four more instructional assistants.Currently, each kindergarten classroom does not have its own instructional assistant, something the district is hoping to change.A modular currently used for storage at Towamensing would be converted into a computer lab during the transition.Added curriculum expenses would be around $22,000.“We do have some grant money set aside that is bookmarked for the startup costs, so that would not have to come out of the next budget,” Heaney said.By eliminating a midday bus run, Palmerton would save $96,000, Superintendent Scot Engler said.Additional teachers and instructional assistants, however, would cost it between $300,000 and $340,000, according to projections from the business office.Classroom supplies such as desks and chairs have already been built into the district’s 2017-18 budget.“To me, even at a quarter of a million dollar cost, adding all-day kindergarten would be a great thing,” Board President Chuck Myers said.One board member, Sue Debski, and Palmerton resident Anne Cronk, suggested scrapping the addition of an artificial turf field in the athletic stadium and keeping a grass field to help offset the cost of the kindergarten expansion.“I think both are great, but you have to pay for it somehow, and it comes from the pockets of the taxpayers,” Debski said. “Sometimes you have to make the hard choice.”Statistics favor full dayBecause of a shortened day, kindergarten students are not spending the amount of time on reading or math curriculum as recommended by the companies who provide the programs, Heaney said.Towamensing librarian Kristin Heller said when students have the class time to build their letters in kindergarten, it is easier for them to read in first grade.“It’s so hard to catch who don’t get it as fast when you only have a half-day kindergarten program,” Heller said. “And then when those students get to first grade, it is very hard for them to catch up. The extra time is irreplaceable in a reading sense.”Parents who had students in full-day programs in other districts also backed the proposal, noting their children had no issues transitioning to the longer day at 5 years old.Only offering a half-day kindergarten program, Palmerton finds itself in the minority both locally and statewide.In addition to the Carbon statistics, 60 percent of districts in Lehigh and Northampton counties have a full-day offering, Heaney said.According to the state Department of Education, around 80 percent of districts in Pennsylvania have full-day kindergarten.Tamaqua and Pleasant Valley are a few area schools still offering a half-day program.“We have not had a recent discussion regarding moving to full-day kindergarten,” said Superintendent Ray Kinder. “To this point, we have been pleased with the overall results we receive from our current delivery method for a large majority of our students. Should we feel it a viable option in the future, we will re-examine the issue.”District lines would remain the sameAs part of the change, Debski asked if the district could look at redrawing its own map in terms of which students would attend Parkside versus Towamensing.That won’t happen, Engler said.“We have seen some fluctuation in population between the schools, but not enough to warrant a redistricting at this time,” he added.Outlook“We have a little more legwork to do and then it will come to the board for a vote,” Engler said.The district said it hopes to have a decision by the time kindergarten registration rolls around in March.