Schools Want to Pursue All-Day Kindergarten -- Eventually

Superintendent Jeff Lampert said he  is pleased with state legislators' move to end the mandate for all-day kindergarten.

"Financially, it would be a burden the district just could not take on," Lampert said.

School districts throughout the state were supposed to institute full-day kindergarten classes this school year, but Strongsville, like many others in the area, requested a one-year waiver.

Even if the mandate were in place, the Strongsville School District would not have started all-day kindergarten until at least fall 2013. Earlier this year, the district sought -- and received -- another two-year waiver from the Ohio Department of Education.

Officials have said it would cost at least $500,000 to start full-day sessions and the district is already facing a $4 million deficit next school year.

The schools are seeking a 9.9-mill operating levy on the May 3 primary ballot.

On the other side of the coin, Lampert said that academically, all-day kindergarten "makes a lot of sense."

He said that while ending the mandate relieves the pressure of getting the  program up and running right away, he said the district fully intends to explore the idea once it is back on solid fiscal footing.

"Without the mandate, we'll be able to go about it in our own time frame," he said.