A hearty congratulations to the 100+ town residents who turned out to support the School Committee’s plan to introduce full day kindergarten on Tuesday. As reported in the Citizen Herald, the School Committee voted 5-1 in favor of the full day kindergarten program, which will be funded by state grants and parent fees — $1,500 per child. Ann Rittenburg was the sole member who voted against the plan, citing her feeling that it was improper to ask parents to pay for public education. Parents who do not wish to enroll their children in the full day program will be able to have them attend only in the morning, at no cost. There will also be vouchers and a sliding scale for families that cannot afford the full fee. While I agree with Ann that public education should be publicly funded, this is a huge win for Belmont’s children and Belmont families — even with parents paying part of the way. Congratulations to all the residents who turned out at both the March 1 meeting and last night! Your involvement and your words demonstrated the deep support that exists within town for our schools and for the great educational tradition that Belmont has come to represent. Congratulations!
In other good news from the Tuesday meeting, Ann Rittenburg writes to the Action for Belmont’s Future that money has been found to bring the schools to a nearly level service budget, preserving key services that were in danger of being cut: elementary teacher positions at the Wellington and Butler, an extra 5th grade teacher at Chenery and BHS, as well as the town’s beloved elementary instrumental music program and library aides for the elementary schools, support for freshman sports programs and money for the beleaguered account to purchase textbooks, etc.
Of course, its important to remember that these are one time funds that are being used to fill a structural (as in: it comes back every year) hole in the town’s finances. It’s up to us to figure out whether we think its fiscally smart to put off solving a problem next year that we know we have today. As long as the town has made the decision to do that, however, let’s be happy that the town’s schools will be able to carry on with their mission.