Full-Day Kindergarten in the Hingham Public Schools

Full-Day Kindergarten in the Hingham Public Schools A Planning Update January 29, 2015 RECENT FULL Day K PLANNING ACTIVITIES Collection and analysis of Income data from other similar towns to develop a sense of scale about tuition revenue possibilities Receipt of grant award from DESE (at reduced amount from request) and submission and approval of reduced budget of $86,779 Updating of sample curriculum plan/daily schedule, to be consistent with MA Standards Development and implementation of Preliminary Registration survey to collect Hingham data about enrollment and parent

income Initial analysis of survey data to inform recommendation to SC about school budget request and sliding scale tuition for Hingham Preliminary Registration Survey (to gather initial information about potential enrollment and parent income) January 12 - 27 online survey (paper option also) 279 respondees January 27 deadline Intended for families with children age-eligible for Sept. 2015 K, but 25 of the respondees had younger or older or no children 254 respondees with age-eligible children, 11 of whom have twins 265 age-eligible children for Sept. 2015

Fairly equal breakdown among the 4 schools, with a range of 62-71 students for each building Survey continued Sample tuition scale created for purpose of data collection, actual scale to be approved by SC and by DESE Sample sliding scale reflected DESE guidelines that are based on MA Median Family Income, with Hingham tuition of $3500 as an example Hingham tuition to be determined by SC, but must be capped at $4000 if Hingham wishes to remain eligible for state grant funds To complete the survey, parents used the sample scale to select income range and view the expected FY 16 tuition for their child

Preliminary Registration Sample Survey Results Q 6 With the understanding that a tuition may be involved, my intent is for my child to attend the full day program in September 2015. Yes 222 No 9 Uncertain - 49 Q 5 Based on the information in the sample chart, select the anticipated annual tuition that applies to you.

Free 3 $300 2 $540 1 $875

6 $1,750 8 $2,625 14 $3,500 225 80+ % Need assistance to determine 20 NEXT STEPS IN PROCESS (SC input and approval)

Develop final sliding scale for tuitions * * Attain SC and DESE approval of tuition scale * * Determine operating budget impact (if any)* * Decide whether to sign DESE March letter of Assurances Finalize criteria for special education tuition relief * Finalize model for special education service delivery * Finalize sample curriculum and daily schedule guidelines, including for the half day program *

Develop a revised kindergarten enrollment packet, including tuition info * Set up a 3rd person collection system (similar to the KIA one) * MOST IMMEDIATE TASKS * Revised Administration - Proposed Funding Proposal for FD K Consider the 15 16 school year as a pilot year Fund the total FD K FY 16 budget (as may be adjusted for the actual enrollment) with tuition revenue Create a tuition scale using $3500 as the maximum tuition Develop a multi-year plan for absorbing the total program cost into the annual operating budget (ex.

over a 3-5 year) period, using the pilot year experience as a basis for the transition details and for making interim annual adjustments to the tuition scale WHAT BUDGET SHOULD BE PRESENTED AT THE JOINT MEETING? Questions for SC discussion: Does the revised budget continue to reflect the SC priorities? Is there consensus on amending the FD K funding proposal? Administrations recommendation as of 1/29/16: Present the revised operating budget proposal AND the revised FD K funding proposal to the Joint Meeting on February 5th. Rationale: The revised operating proposal reflects a reduction of $381,692 from the preliminary budget, for a revised bottom line of 46,190,991 (an increase of

6.21 over the prior year); it also signals SD and SC willingness and intent to look for further savings. The elimination of a specific request for FD K dollars allows the SD to move forward with K program planning AND for AdCom and BOS to focus their discussions on FY 16 operating budget needs AND for parents to move forward with their planning for child placements for September 2015.