Mandatory kindergarten costs money.
By forcing an estimated 20,000 youth throughout California who are eligible to attend kindergarten but not attending to do so is expected to cost $280 million annually.
It’s $280 million the state has not provided funding for local school districts to cover.
It’s why Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure Sunday.
And while that gives districts such as Manteca Unified some relief, there are still two expensive propositions being advanced:
*One is a proposed requirement that kindergarteners be in school for a full-day and not half days that allow morning and afternoon sessions to share the same classroom.
*The other is part of a state-mandate that by the 2025-2026 academic year any school operating a kindergarten needs to provide transitional kindergarten (TK) program for all 4 year-olds.
While Newsom also vetoed separate legislation that would have required every school with kindergarten to offer at least one full-day class option saying it "will create one-time and ongoing costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars," he was not necessarily against eventually having such a mandate in place.
The governor did note that the 2022-23 budget included $4 billion in funding for expanded learning opportunities.
A mandatory TK program means the district would have to provide additional classroom space for up to 2,000 students.
And extending kindergarten sessions to full-day attendance would require the number of kindergarten classrooms in the district to be doubled.
Neither is an inexpensive proposition especially compared to regular classrooms.
That’s because the state requires both kindergarten and TK classrooms classroom to be 1,350 square feet versus the standard 960-square-foot classroom. They also must have a fenced in playground area, separate restrooms, and such.
The TK classrooms under state rules cannot be portable classrooms. The state, though, has indicated it will help with the cost of providing new classrooms but not necessarily the entire tab.
The coming TK mandate and the potential of day-long kindergarten classes are part of a Manteca Unified board workshop taking place on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the district office concerning housing needs for projected enrollment.
Adding TK space would be the equivalent of the capacity of two current elementary campuses.
The state is also requiring the TK classes to be limited to 10 students. The mandate means roughly twice the number of instructors will be needed for TK students than at other levels.
That and the potential need for more kindergarten classrooms for current enrollment in addition to projected population growth in Manteca and Lathrop will be discussed by the board.
The mandatory kindergarten bill Newsom vetoed was designed to close the gap in academic opportunity for low-income students and students of color.
Newsom in his veto message regarding the legislation that would have required children to attend kindergarten — whether through homeschooling, public or private school — before entering first grade at a public school noted the costs associated with providing mandatory kindergarten, about $268 million annually, were not accounted for in the California budget.
Newsom has supported similar legislation in the past. Last year, he signed a package of education bills, including one transitioning the state to universal pre-K starting in the 2025-26 school year. But the state's Department of Finance opposed the mandatory kindergarten bill, stating it would strain funds by adding up to 20,000 new public school students.
Kindergarten enrollment in California dropped nearly 12% in the 2020-21 academic year compared to the previous year, according to the state Department of Education. Nationwide, public school enrollment dropped by 3 percent in 2020-21 compared to the previous school year, with preschool and kindergarten enrollment dropping at higher rates, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
