Moneyed school district eschews Transitional Kindergarten
Mae Ryan/KPCC
Children in the transitional kindergarten (TK) program play during recess at the Martha Escutia Primary Center. TK was created by a new law called the Kindergarten Readiness Act in 2010.
As universal PreK gains steam nationwide, California has been somewhat ahead of the curve with the introduction of the Transitional Kindergarten grade last year to serve children turning 5 between Sept 1 – Dec 1, just under the cutoff to enter Kindergarten.
State law required each district to offer at least one transitional kindergarten class. Butthe Vallejo Times Herald is reporting on one school district that has found a way to bypass the law: money.
The Las Lomitas School District in San Mateo County, which encompasses Atherton, Portola Valley and the western edge of Menlo Park – home to Stanford University – earns enough revenue from property taxes that it doesn’t have to accept state funding. And herein lies the loophole: the language of the law stipulates districts must provide transitional kindergarten to get state funding to offer it.
"It's an optional program that wasn't the right thing for our district," Richard Ginn, the district's board president, told the Vallejo Times Herald. "I'm not against the
