After reviewing a survey completed by kindergarten teachers and other school officials, the School Committee appears unlikely to take any action to change the cutoff date for kindergarten eligibility, despite the pleas of two parents whose son missed the date by just one day.
While committee members — and survey respondents — acknowledged the arbitrary nature of the Sept. 1 date, most of the 54 respondents to the survey urged the committee to keep the cutoff in place, in part because Sept. 1 is the date set by the overwhelming majority of school districts statewide. Superintendent of Schools Josh Vadala had emphasized the importance of setting a date to the committee during a previous meeting, rejecting the idea of a rolling-admissions system.
No matter how the committee acts, some students will be on the outside looking in.
“This is a case of, sometimes you have to listen to the professionals,” Committee member Joe Amico said. “Prior to that survey, I was all about what’s one more day, let’s get that kid in… (but) as a School Committee member I have to respect their opinion.”
“For me, even as an educator, to tell an elementary-school teacher or kindergarten teacher what’s best for their classroom, it’s very difficult,” Amico, who works as a teacher for Revere Public Schools, continued.
Committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne, who chairs the Quality and Standards Subcommittee that would be tasked with amending the policy if the committee deems it necessary, said the existing policy “bears out what much of the comments and the research in the survey showed.”
