Framingham Kindergarten Crisis Looming - What to do?
Apr 30th, 2008 by masspreschools
Framingham, one of the largest cities in Massachusetts, has delayed making kindergarten placement decisions. Read the detailed story here. While this story in the Metrowest Daily News reports that decisions will be made in May, our research found that some parents have been told they won’t know until August. The city is struggling with a $2 million budget short fall and is contemplating hacking the education budget. We investigated the likely outcome of this planning process and the results are disturbing.
Framingham residents - are you sitting down? It is distinctly possible that the city will be forced to dramatically cut the number of full day kindergarten seats available to Framingham children. The result - parents of kindergarten age children that expected to have full day kindergarten will only have half day kindergarten at best. The alternative - dramatically increase fees for attending kindergarten.
There are more than 600 kindergarten age children in Framingham - so either way - this decision is going to be painful. What to do about the Framingham kindergarten decisions? Hedge your bet. Hope for a miracle from the city, but plan on a disaster. Make alternative arrangements now. If you need after school care - assuming you only get half day kindergarten - find a quality program now. Contact private kindergartens if necessary to try to lock in a place just in case the decision goes against your child’s interests.
We are continuing to research the crisis, lobbying local politicians, contacting kindergarten teachers and trying to find scholarships assuming the worst occurs. Stay tuned.
Click here to use Sphere to find other related articles and blogs from across the web.