Large kindergarten classes feared

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A plan to create full-day kindergarten could result in large class sizes for the state's 5-year-olds, the vice chairwoman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee said Monday.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she supports the idea of implementing full-day kindergarten in the state, but the classes won't be as effective unless class sizes are close to a 16-to-1 teacher to student ratio.

Clark County Superintendent Carlos Garcia, one of the main proponents of full-day kindergarten in the state, said he could commit to a 25-to-1 ratio in Clark County.

Giunchigliani said that number needs to go down, and she said she would look at surplus funds this year to create a class-size reduction plan for kindergarten. Right now the state provides class-size reduction funds for primary grades, but not for kindergarten.

Giunchigliani pointed out that college classes typically have a 1-to-12 or 1-to-15 ratio.

"That's for adults," she said. "This is for 5-year-olds."

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, the main sponsor of the bill to create full-day kindergarten, agreed.

"We do ourselves a disservice if the class size isn't manageable," he said.

Terry Hickman, the president of the Nevada State Education Association, said the group supports Perkins' bill but also has concerns that class sizes will turn out large under the bill.

"Forty-to-one (students to teachers) may be kindergarten but it's not acceptable," he said, pointing out that his grandson is in a kindergarten class with 35 students in Clark County.

Still, Hickman said, "the most important issue we have is full-day kindergarten and we certainly need to make it our best effort to provide the best learning environment."

Assembly Bill 198 would provide $12 million in the upcoming fiscal year and $60 million in the next year to buy kindergarten portable classrooms and create kindergarten programs. All schools could offer full-day kindergarten by the 2006 school year.

The Ways and Means Committee did not vote on the issue Monday, though Giunchigliani said she expects the bill will clear the committee.

Garcia said the district has implemented full-day kindergarten in 54 of its most at-risk schools by using federal funds.

"They're doubling their scores," he said. "They're doing so much better than they've ever done."

Officials have seen huge jumps in scores from both at-risk students and students from wealthier neighborhoods whose parents pay for full-day kindergarten, he said.