Full-Day Kindergarten Families Will See a Partial Fee Refund

Wayland School Committee members learned Monday night that families with children currently enrolled in Wayland’s full-day kindergarten program can expect a partial refund of the fees they paid for that pilot-program kindergarten option.

Assistant Superintendent Brad Crozier told School Committee members that the full-day kindergarten program will very likely end the year with a surplus, and he anticipates the district being able to refund about 10 percent of each child’s $4,950 fee for their 2010-2011 enrollment.
 
“We have good news to report on the full-day kindergarten in terms of the fees we’re charging,” Crozier said. “We were dealing with a lot of unknowns [and] we budgeted very conservatively. We won’t know the exact amount until later in June … I believe it’s going to be in the neighborhood of $500 per student.”

Crozier explained that the program’s budget was originally drawn up to allow for hiring teachers who earned at the highest pay level. But of the district’s five kindergarten teachers who expressed interest in teaching the program, the two who were deemed most qualified were not actually those who had yet achieved the highest pay grade.

The lower-than-budgeted pay grade of teachers hired as well as the Health Department’s use of substitute, rather than full-time nurses, Crozier said were the major factors contributing to the surplus of funds.

“We didn’t want to underfund,” Crozier said, “but now that we see a surplus in that account, there’s no reason to carry that forward.”

Once the books are closed at the end of June, a specific refund amount can be determined.

Next year’s anticipated full-day kindergarten fees have been adjusted to reflect the lower cost. The fee per child next year is recommended at $4,450.