Everett Parents in Mukilteo School District Lose Option of Full Day Paid Kindergarten

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There are several areas of Everett that are in the Mukilteo School District. On Friday, the Mukilteo District announced it was suspending its paid full day kindergarten for the 2014-2015 school year. Here’s the official release from Andy Muntz…

Due to a lack of classroom space, the Mukilteo School District will not be able to offer a tuition-based, all-day kindergarten program for the 2014-15 school year. “With increasing enrollment in elementary schools and a forecast for continued growth next year, we have determined that we no longer have classrooms available to house the program,” explained Dr. Marci Larsen, superintendent of the school district.

“We are very disappointed,” she said. “The all-day kindergarten program is valuable and we know that many parents believe it’s important that their child have an all-day kindergarten experience. But, we simply don’t have the classrooms available. Even by adding more portable classrooms this summer, we will need every classroom we have to accommodate the students in our regular elementary program.”

Larsen pointed out that as enrollment has climbed in recent years, the number of classrooms available for the tuition-based, all-day program has gone down. Six years ago, the school district could offer nine sessions of all-day kindergarten, but last year that number had been reduced to only three.

In February, voters passed a ballot measure that will provide funding for a new elementary school and a new early-learning kindergarten center. “We greatly appreciate the voters for recognizing the problem and voting to solve it,” Larsen said. “We wish those new buildings could be ready next fall, but that’s obviously impossible.”

The new elementary is scheduled to be completed and ready for students in the fall of 2016, while the early-learning center is scheduled to be completed a year later. According to Larsen, when both facilities are built, the school district hopes to offer all-day sessions for all kindergarten students.

“We ask that parents be patient until those new facilities are finally built,” she said. “With enrollment continuing to climb during the next few years, the problem of classroom space will unfortunately get worse before it finally gets better.”