Fight to revive SF transitional kindergarten plan
02.13.2012 | San Francisco Chronicle | Jill Tucker
Dozens of San Francisco parents are fighting a school district decision to abandon plans for transitional kindergarten, a program created by state law to prepare children not quite ready for regular kindergarten.
Transitional kindergarten was to begin next fall for a small number of kids who won't turn 5 years old until after next Nov. 1.
Historically, children who turned 5 on or before Dec. 2 could enter school as kindergartners, put into classes with children months older. But the law that created transitional kindergarten made those younger kids ineligible for kindergarten so they could be better prepared.
That was fine with parents like Marija Maldonado, who were counting on the new program for their children. In San Francisco, 180 families applied for transitional kindergarten.
But when Gov. Jerry Brown, in a cost-saving move, proposed to eliminate funding, San Francisco school officials canceled their program altogether.
The cancellation defied state law and left Maldonado, in her view, with few options for her daughter, Ivana, who will become a 5-year-old on Nov. 2, one day too late to become a kindergartner.
"If she was born 12 hours earlier I wouldn't be dealing with this," Maldonado said. "Now we're looking for (preschool) as an alternative, but most of those programs are closed."
Frustrated parents
Maldonado knew she wasn't the only frustrated parent. She sent out e-mails to parent groups looking for others who wanted to stand up against the district's decision.
The responses poured in from one family after another, all wondering what they will do in the fall and whether the district will work with them to accommodate their children.
So far, the district is standing firm. Despite the two years the San Francisco district, like other districts throughout California, has spent getting ready to provide the program, uncertainty over the state budget makes transitional kindergarten too much of a financial risk to pursue, school officials say.
"We encourage them to continue with their pre-K options," said district spokeswoman Heidi Anderson.
While California lawmakers decide whether to fund the program, the families' applications for transitional kindergarten have been set aside.
The financial impact
The state could save about $675 million if it doesn't fund transitional kindergarten, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office. Many districts have said they couldn't support the program without the $6,000 per child in state funding they would receive to pay for it.
If the state decides to stick with transitional kindergarten, San Francisco school officials have said they will offer it at two early-education sites, both located on the southeast side of town - in the Bayview and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods.
Most school districts have continued with their efforts to offer the program, although some have said they would cancel the program if the state withdraws the funding for it. Transitional kindergarten supporters have been holding rallies across the state, encouraging elected officials to retain the program.
"I can understand the anxiety and confusion at the district in San Francisco," said state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who wrote the law to create transitional kindergarten. "But I found their (decision) perplexing. I'm perplexed because t-k is law."
The governor's proposal is only a proposal, Simitian said.
Parents in San Francisco say they understand the district's concern over finances and the uncertainty at the state level. But they argue that the district could continue planning for transitional kindergarten and, like other districts, wait to see if the state eliminates funding.
If transitional kindergarten is not funded, the district could then offer those children a waiver to start kindergarten even if their birthdays fall after the Nov. 1 cutoff, an option the governor has offered to fund.
That would mean the district would still get state funding for those students, who would then be counted as regular kindergartners, Simitian said.
2-year kindergarten
Another option, Simitian said, is a two-year kindergarten program for their children available under state law as long as parents sign authorizations, he said.
"If the district can get over itself, there's a very simple solution for all of this," said parent Forest Gray, whose daughter Scarlett turns 5 on Dec. 1. "It almost seems like it's petty."
The San Francisco school board has yet to weigh in on the issue, leaving it in the hands of Superintendent Carlos Garcia.
Parents plan to attend a board meeting Tuesday to ask the seven elected officials to intervene.
Board member Rachel Norton said the district has been put in a difficult position with the parents because of the political flip-flopping in Sacramento.
"Their M.O. is to create programs and then jerk the funding away," she said. "The burden is always on the districts to explain the machinations."
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. jtucker@sfchronicle.com
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