Gilroy
– An administrative push toward implementing all–day
kindergarten in all Gilroy schools ran into a roadblock when the
majority of staff members at Eliot School voted against a full–day
program next year, causing a rift between staff members and
administration.
Gilroy – An administrative push toward implementing all–day kindergarten in all Gilroy schools ran into a roadblock when the majority of staff members at Eliot School voted against a full–day program next year, causing a rift between staff members and administration.
Gilroy Unified School District Board members and Superintendent Edwin Diaz are investigating whether to implement a districtwide full–day kindergarten program in the future – and beginning with Eliot School. But the teachers at Eliot School weren’t ready to waive the part of their contract that would extend the working day of kindergarten teachers last week.
The staff at Rod Kelley School began all–day kindergarten this year, after approving a contract waiver of its kindergarten teachers.
The GUSD board met with Rod Kelley School kindergarten staff last week to hear the merits of extending the school day. The presentation was designed to help board members decide whether to vote in favor of an all–day kindergarten program at Eliot or support their desire to remain a half–day program.
Some board members believe the difference between 200 and 293 instructional minutes is not just an extra hour and a half of teacher–student contact, but an opportunity for enrichment some students may never otherwise know.
“It’s compelling, the case for all-day kindergarten,” said GUSD board member Jaime Rosso. “Especially for the kids who start out already way behind – the need is clearly there.”
In a meeting Monday, Rod Kelley staff explained that their attendance and their achievement scores have improved since last year.
“We’ve noticed that they’re a lot happier in the classroom,” said Carrie Pray, a kindergarten teacher at Rod Kelley.
In the beginning of the year, Rod Kelley parents were given the option to limit their child to attending the school half–day if their student performed at grade level. Not one parent has exercised this option.
At least 90 percent of the students attending Eliot next year will be on the free and reduced lunch program and almost 80 percent are English Language Learners.
Superintendent Edwin Diaz would like an all–day program to be available districtwide in the next few years.
“We would not be able to implement them all at once,” he said, citing budget costs and facility space as reasons. But Diaz hopes to start programs at schools with the greatest need, beginning with Eliot.
At the GUSD board meeting May 19, board members will discuss whether to move to an all–day program at Eliot.
Should the board vote to implement a program at Eliot, the Gilroy Teachers Association will file a second unfair labor claim against the district, said president Michelle Nelson. The first unfair labor claim was filed this February with the California Public Employment Relations Board and claimed the district’s Accountability Plan is causing teachers to perform increased work without compensation.
“You don’t let people vote and then say it doesn’t count,” Nelson said. “I understand that Eliot is a special case … but I would like some conclusive evidence.”
Nelson would like the board to investigate all data before making their decision, and not simply the data the Rod Kelley group provided.
Last year, the entire Rod Kelley kindergarten unit decided there were not enough minutes to teach the academic and enrichment activities they wanted in the half-day model.
Under current teacher contract, half–day kindergarten involves 200 minutes of contact time. However, those include lunch, recess and physical education, reducing the amount of actual instruction to less than three hours a day.
The five kindergarten staff members approached Principal Luis Carrillo with the idea of extending their teaching day to a full day model similar to the one used at Las Animas School.
The move to full–day hours required a contract waiver supported by the majority of the Rod Kelley School – not just the kindergarten teachers.
Fortunately, 80 percent of the Rod Kelley staff supported their decision to waive their contract and extend the work day.
With the new model, they have an additional 90 minutes to teach enrichment classes such as music, dance, and social studies.
The situation has been very different for the staff at Eliot.
“It’s very divisive,” said Principal Diane Elia. “It’s pitted me against my staff.”
According to Elia, two of the three kindergarten teachers at Eliot support moving to an all–day schedule next year. One teacher opposes waiving the contract. Because the teachers are divided, the rest of Eliot staff is unwilling to vote in favor of the waiver.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Elia. “I absolutely do not think that in the half–day they will learn as much.”
Next year, Eliot School will move from its temporary home at Ascension Solorsano Middle School to its original Seventh Street campus. A new kindergarten unit rests unfinished on the plot, specially designed for an all–day program.
Elia considers the need for a full–day program critical to getting disadvantaged students on par with first grade standards.
The school already operates on a four-hour kindergarten schedule. By implementing a full-day program, “It’s really asking the teachers to work the same amount of minutes as every other teacher in the district,” she insisted.
“I think all–day kindergarten is less work,” said Judy Jones, a kindergarten teacher at Rod Kelley. “The kids are more independent,” she said looking over her kindergarten class on Monday.
“This time last year, I was pushing it. Now, it’s easy street. Look at the them.”
Students are clustered in homogenous reading groups. Voices ring out, fingers following each word on the page. Mouths sound out letters. Others write sentences and draw pictures to illustrate the meaning of the words.
One success story in her class is reading aloud to the rest of the students.
“At the beginning of the year, she couldn’t speak any English,” Jones whispered.
“In the half-day program, (ELL students’) language wasn’t as rich. You wouldn’t have had time to do the subtle nuances of language, just the basics,” she explained.
Last year, she used to spend time acting out what the words meant, now she has other kids help explain.
“We’ve created monsters,” she laughs. “But good monsters.”
