The Uintah School District has developed a plan to offer both half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten at all elementary schools in the district beginning in the fall of 2023. The District shared on Tuesday that the draft plan allows parents to choose between enrolling their student in half-day kindergarten or full-day kindergarten, as required by state law. “It also provides guidance for moving a student from one option to the other during the school year if a parent chooses to do so. The proposal has been reviewed by the district’s elementary school principals. They were given the opportunity to provide feedback and make recommendations.” The draft plan will be on the agenda of the Uintah School Board meeting on April 5th at Vernal Middle School. The draft plan was developed in response to the Utah Legislature’s recent passage of HB477, which provides funding through the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) for Utah schools to provide full-day kindergarten. In addition to funding full-day kindergarten, the legislation requires schools to continue to offer a half-day kindergarten option. The district’s draft plan calls for all kindergarten classrooms to operate as full-day classrooms where students who participate in the half-day option are released at noon, except on Fridays. All kindergarten students will receive instruction in language arts and math in the morning. In the afternoons, full-day kindergarten students will receive additional instruction in language arts, intervention or extension time, and/or “specials.” Email Superintendent Rick Woodford at rick.woodford@uintah.net if you would like to provide specific feedback on the draft kindergarten plan.
