The Londonderry School Board and Budget Committee were recently briefed on a potential warrant article that would bring full-day kindergarten to the District as early as next year.
Unlike last year’s proposal – which called for a stand-alone kindergarten building at Moose Hill – this year’s plan would place kindergarten students across the existing elementary schools.
As currently drafted, the warrant article would ask voters to approve full-day kindergarten, a move that Superintendent Dan Black said would reduce the tax rate by 12 cents.
Unlike last year’s bond project, requiring a two-thirds majority vote, this warrant article would only need a simple majority to pass.
Black explained that the tax rate reduction would come from two areas: increased revenue and a decrease in operating expenses. On the revenue side, the District expects to receive an additional $548,226 in year one, largely due to increased state aid for full-day kindergarten.
On the expense side, the District anticipates a net savings of $208,000, which includes various one-time implementation costs.
“So that’s actually a 12-cent savings on the tax impact,” Black said, referring to the combined revenue increase and cost savings.
Black said the District is able to pursue this new approach because the last three incoming classes have had fewer students than usual. He cited economic challenges, the difficulty of affording a home, an aging population, and lower birth rates as contributing factors.
However, he noted that other districts are seeing more stable or slightly increasing enrollments.
“They’re seeing more stable enrollments – some are seeing slight increases,” Black said, explaining that the lack of full-day kindergarten makes it harder for Londonderry to attract new families, particularly those with young children.
Black said the drop in school enrollment can be attributed to the lack of full-day Kindergarten.
He said, “Since we don’t have Full-Day Kindergarten, we’re not becoming a very attractive place for young families to move to.”
Black added that they expect enrollment to increase if full-day kindergarten is approved.
For an example, he said they would expect around 210 students in a half-day model, but full-day kindergarten could bring in approximately 30 additional students to that number. He also noted that school choice plays a role.
As of now, the District is proposing 14 kindergarten classrooms beginning next year if the warrant article passes, though that number could change.
“It could change how that 14 are dispersed, but we’re planning for 14,” Black said, noting that 18 students would be the cap per classroom.
He also explained that the original plan called for 12 classrooms, but feedback led them to increase the number to 14.
No decisions were made during the meeting.