Revised : Mailbag: School Beat: Re: Discontinuation of half-day kindergarten; Writer has retracted conments re former Supr. Albrecht

( Ed. note: This letter has been edited for length and content to meet the blog requirements. Writer has retracted previous content re. former Supr. Albrecht )

--- Melissa Hammann
<Mhammann@charter.net> wrote:

> It has been brought to my attention that, due to
> budget constraints, the Evansville School District
> plans to discontinue offering the half-day
> kindergarten option. Furthermore, it is my
> understanding that even Mr. Hoffenberg was kept out
> of the discussions until Ms. Carvin had made the
> decision and offered him a full-time position next
> fall. Numerous reasons were cited, including the
> SAGE grant restrictions, reduced/free lunch program,
> bus transportation etc. Nobody seems to agree on
> the amount to be saved by this action. The amount
> seems to change depending on to whom you speak and
> at what time of day you speak to them. One parent
> even received 2 different quotes from the same
> person. There are numerous arguments against this
> move. Mine are four-fold: child based need,
> budgetary, the duplicitous approach used by the
> school district and the despicable treatment of an
> outstanding teacher.
>
> My first objection to eliminating the half-day
> kindergarten class is based on the need of the
> child. Some five-year-old children are not ready
> for a full day of school every day, but are eager to
> learn in a more challenging environment that that
> provided by pre-school. Of our three children, only
> one would have done well in a full day class.
> Fortunately, all three of our children have had the
> priviledge of enrolling in Mr. Hoffenberg's
> kindergarten class. Last fall we enrolled our
> youngest child. Will is a rambunctious boy whose
> educational needs have been met and exceeded by Mr.
> Steve's firm but fun guidance. I know that more
> than one family had to seek other options for their
> children because the demand for the half-day class
> exceeded the supply of openings. We feel especially
> fortunate that Will was able to benefit from Mr.
> Hoffenberg's vast experience.
>
> My second argument against dropping the half-day
> program at this time is budgetary. A mere 4 years
> after its inception, kindergarten "choice" is on the
> budgetary chopping block. Let us review the last 6
> years or so of school board fiscal decisions, shall
> we? Our oldest child had Mr. Steve in the pre-SAGE
> days when kindergarten was only half-day for
> everyone in Evansville. We were ecstatic with Mr.
> Hoffenberg's teaching skills. He paved the way for
> her very successful school career thus far. Our
> second child had Mr. Hoffenberg for Kindergarten in
> 2002. This was the first year that a choice between
> full day and half-day kindergarten was offered. I'd
> like to add that this was also the first year summer
> school was cancelled due to budget overruns on the
> new high school. I could NOT understand why the
> school district effectively doubled their
> kindergarten teacher salary and benefits costs at a
> time of budget crisis. How can it be fiscally sound
> to double your kindergarten staff salary and
> benefits during tight financial times? Apparently
> the SAGE grant and the free/reduced meal program
> with their almighty government funding carrot was
> the primary impetus for this move. Parents eager to
> reduce their daycare costs fell right into lock step
> with the school district on that decision.
>
> Next..... Nowhere in the entire discourse of expanding
> the grade school into the old high school, did
> anybody mention a second set of administrators being
> hired and suddenly, VOILA, there they were.
>
> This litany of fiscally ambiguous decisions is to
> illustrate to you how completely skeptical one
> remains when you begin to quote audacious figures
> for cost savings by expanding the half-day
> kindergarten class-room to a full day class-room.
> It is my understanding that the SAGE grant as it
> currently exists is in jeopardy. It seems that
> pinning budgetary hopes for monetary gain on an
> amorphous SAGE grant is like hitting a moving target
> at best and poor decision-making at worst. When
> the SAGE grant monies are no longer flowing, what
> will the school district be left with? An
> unmanageable kindergarten program and
> worse-than-ever blood between the school district
> and the community. I would be interested in the
> results of a simple budget exercise. Calculate the
> costs of all half-day kindergarten and compare them
> with the costs of all full day kindergarten. I'm
> just curious.
>
> My third issue with this.... incident is the
> sneaky, underhanded way ..... (it was) attempted to railroad it
> through the budget without citizen knowledge or
> input.

>
> Finally, and most importantly, I must speak out
> against (the) .... treatment of Steve Hoffenberg
> throughout this incident. It is despicable that you
> would treat an award-winning, incredibly talented
> and enthusiastic kindergarten teacher with such
> disrespect. ...... A pessimist would say that
> by treating him so callously, you force his hand to
> retire so you can hire some hot-out-of-school
> teacher on the cheap.............
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Melissa M. Hammann