Schools that don’t offer full-day kindergarten will lose state aid next year, according to legislation filed today in the South Dakota Senate.

Currently schools receive the full per-student allocation for every kindergarten student enrolled, regardless of whether the district offers a full or part-time kindergarten program. If passed, SB 72 will establish a minimum number of hours – 875, the same number of hours required for grades 1-3 – that kindergarten programs must operate in order to receive full funding. Less student contact time means the district receives a prorated share of the per-student allocation.

Likely to be pitched as a cost-saving move in a tight budget year, the proposal could mean further sudden reductions in state aid for districts that have yet to adopt an all-day, every-day approach to kindergarten. For example, if a district had 100 students enrolled in half-day kindergarten, the passage of SB 72 would result in a loss of more than $200,000 next year in addition to the proposed 10 percent cut to the per-student allocation.

Sen. Deb Peters, R-Hartford, and Rep. Jacqueline Sly, R-Rapid City, are the bill’s two primary backers.

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