Board mulls whole-day kindergarten

ENTERPRISE — The Enterprise School Board’s March 1 agenda included reports from kindergarten teacher Tori Christman and former kindergarten teacher Sue Barstad as requested by the board on the issue of instituting a full-day kindergarten program in Enterprise.

The district anticipates approximately 29 kindergarten students in the fall of 2010.

Christman said 14 of her current kindergarten students require one-on-one attention everyday to bring them up to grade level. She said she did not know how she would be able to work with the students who need extra help if she had 29 students in the classroom.

Second grade teacher Sue Barstad agreed.

“There is a benefit to whole-day kindergarten, but not with 29 kids. I can’t imagine quality education happening with 29 5-year-olds. Less than 20 is optimum.”

Superintendent Brad Royse presented results of a parent poll of current kindergarten students. Out of 19, 11 were adamant about maintaining a half-day program. Six were in favor of a full-day, and the rest were undecided, according to Royse. The state of Oregon only funds a half-day for kindergarten students, Royse said, and there is research that shows the benefits of both full- and half-day programs. “When the state funds a full day, we’ll go to a full day,” he said.

Concerns about Enterprise parents transferring their students to Joseph for a full-day program were discussed, and Superintendent Royse said he had heard from five families from Joseph who were registering their kindergarteners in the Enterprise district to take advantage of the half-day program. There was no formal motion on the issue and the consensus of the board was to retain the half-day kindergarten program for 2010-11.

Other items included a request from the Enterprise-Joseph Softball Co-op for full funding from the district. No definite budget was available from the softball program but an approximate figure of $10,000 was proposed.

According to parents and athletes, the interest in the program is high with 24 women participating and merits full funding from the district. The board voted to contribute $1,500 last year toward the cost of officials for the program, but all other funds are raised by the athletes and their parents.

Superintendent Royse said a half-time math position and a half-time English position were cut along with other extra curricular programs before the softball program was begun. According to Royse, bringing back some or all of those programs should be considered before funding is approved for the softball team.

Board chairman Nils Christofferson said the enthusiasm and success of the program was appreciated. He said that in lean years a lot of programs were cut and the board has not had a chance to look at what may be possible with the upcoming budget. Christofferson requested a budget for the softball program be submitted and the item was put on the agenda for the April meeting. Superintendent Royse said that he is cautiously optimistic that the district will not have to make major budget cuts at this time due to the tentative state funding for education as a result of the passage of measures 66 and 67.

Old business items included a report on the biomass project and according to Brad Royse, negotiations with the contractor do not look as optimistic as they did last month. The performance analysis that McKinstry promised to produce was not available at the most recent meeting so it is still not known what part of the shortfall the contractor will be paying back to the district.

Board chairman Nils Christofferson represented the board in the meeting and according to Superintendent Royse, Christofferson expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the contractor and clearly stated the demands of the district. Negotiations continue and more information will be available for the April meeting.

Board member Mike Weideman obtained a favorable report on the performance of the biomass heating system from head of maintenance, Ken Kunkel. The furnace ran 80 hours with no required maintenance and the oil back-up boiler did not come on.

Also discussed was a head lice and flu epidemic which has been in evidence in both the elementary and upper level students. The health department has been conducting weekly inspections. The conditions seem to spread on the weekends as students spend free time together, Royse said.

High school principal Blake Carlsen reported seven FFA members will be receiving state FFA degrees at the convention this month. Those students include Jake Nicholls, Alex McCadden, Kyle Stangel, Jared Micka, Cade Steen, Cole Sajonia and Carson Makin. The club’s Parliamentary Procedure team won first place at the district competition and competed at the sectional competition Thursday. Team members are Silje Christofferson, Brooke Greensheilds, Whitney Schaefer, Cole Sajonia, Erich Roepke and Racheal Garvin.

The board approved a resolution to declare March 1-5 Classified Employees Appreciation Week to recognize the dedication and hard work of the district’s classified employees.

The Enterprise Education Foundation annual fundraising dinner auction is scheduled for April 2 and volunteers are still needed to help. The Casino Night and crab feed fundraiser netted the foundation approximately $1,600 and was deemed a success.

The next Enterprise School Board meeting is scheduled for April 5 in the high school home ec room at 7:30 p.m.