UPDATED: School District Restores Full-Day Kindergarten

The School District of Philadelphia has restored full-day kindergarten for the 2011-12 school year.

Cutting the program had been one of the most controversial cost-saving measures the district proposed. The district had said it would eliminate the full-day program and install half-day kindergarten throughout its schools.

It previously had been using a $55 million state Accountability Block Grant to fund full-day kindergarten, and it used that money to pay for kindergarten this school year. But Gov. Tom Corbett proposed the grant be eliminated as part of his budget plan for the next fiscal year, and the district wasn't sure how it could fill that hole.

But Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said at a news conference at district headquarters Friday that the district found out today that it could use Title I money—which comes from the federal government—to pay for the program.

Layoff notices are scheduled to go out this weekend and Monday. Because of that, Ackerman said she wanted to ensure she had an answer on kindergarten before then so she wouldn't have to send layoff notices to teachers if the program was restored.

"June 6 was doomsday for me," she said.

Other school districts where she's worked, Ackerman said, have used Title I money for kindergarten programs. But she couldn't be sure that it could use it for the same purposes here until it adopted its 2011-12 budget.

Once on Tuesday, the district was allowed to begin applying for an augmentation of the federal Title I funds it receives. The state Department of Education confirmed that it could do that.

And after speaking with officials from that department this morning, Ackerman said the district could say for sure it would be able to use the federal money for the program in the coming years.

"This is a permanent fix for our full-day kindergarten," Ackerman said.

Ackerman said she was happy the state confirmed the money could be spent on kindergarten. She said if it hadn't done that, she would have taken a train to Washington, D.C. to meet with federal Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today.

The district will welcome about 14,000 new kindergarten students next year.

Ackerman emphasized, however, that the district will continue to fight for even more programs to be restored. Her message was echoed by parents and clergy members who also attended the afternoon news conference.

"This fight is just not over. This is a wonderful step for Philadelphia, but I don't want anyone out there to think this is just a Philadelphia issue," said Cheryl Dore, who is the president of the Cook-Wissahickon School Home & School Association. "This has to be a joint, cooperative effort from everybody in the five counties and beyond. These politicians have to know that education is not something you can play with."

Mt. Airy parent Kevin Peter said it's important for various governments to give schools enough money that will allow their leaders to make good decisions.

"This is a great example of all of that coming together," Peter said.

Layoff notices will still go out during the early portion of next week. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said 1,498 teachers will get layoff notices on Monday. It also reported the union said 174 kindergarten teachers who would have received similar notices won't get them because of the Title I funding that will support the program.

Ackerman said those notices could essentially be revoked if certain programs are restored later on. Those could include music, art, sports activities and programs for gifted and talented students.

The superintendent said she wants to have the majority of essential cuts restored by the end of June.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who heads up City Council's education committee, spoke at the news conference.

Correction: An original version of this story misspelled Cheryl Dore's name.