As part of the Utah Full Day Kindergarten Now! Coalition, the Early Childhood Alliance is advocating for full state funding for optional full-day kindergarten (FDK) programs that serve all interested and willing families and school districts.
“Our students, teachers and entire school community benefit from all day kindergarten instruction. The data gathered consistently show that FDK impacts students in a positive way. Teachers have found that student/teacher relationships were stronger, the pacing could be slowed to facilitate stronger mastery and proficiency of essential skills, art could be experienced, and the overall school experience for these young learners was more engaging and productive.”
Kindergarten is optional in Utah and will remain so, even if additional funding is allocated to support parents who want FDK for their child. Currently, kindergarten is only partially funded by the State of Utah. State funding is provided to local education agencies (LEAs) based upon a weighted pupil unit (WPU) and average daily membership. First through twelfth grades receive a full WPU, but the State only provides .55 WPU for kindergarten students.
In response to the demand for, and benefits of, FDK, the state created an Optional Enhanced Kindergarten (OEK) grant program in 2020 (HB 99) that helps cover some of the cost of FDK. These OEK funds have been used by both Park City and South Summit school districts.
Last year, the State created another source of funding, HB193, which added an additional $12 million for FDK. Neither Park City nor South Summit was eligible for these additional FDK funds because HB 193 did not allow school districts to supplant any current funds. But even combining the .55 WPU, OEK, and FDK program funding, it still does not equate to a full WPU for kindergarten students. In order to get to a full WPU, the State needs to invest an additional $53 million each year. During this year’s legislative session, the Utah Full Day Kindergarten Now! Coalition is advocating that kindergarteners are financed with a full WPU, just like their peers in first through twelfth grades.
Funding the full WPU for kindergarten will help all local school districts, even North Summit, which currently does not offer FDK, in part, because of the lack of a stable, reliable funding source. In addition to the OEK funds, both South Summit and Park City are funding their current FDK programs with local funding in the form of district property taxes. If the full WPU is funded by the State of Utah, both these districts can reallocate those local funds to other critical district needs, such as funding preschool.
Please join the Early Childhood Alliance and the Utah Full Day Kindergarten Now! Coalition in supporting full funding for FDK as part of the WPU in the upcoming legislative session.