House OKs bill funding all-day kindergarten

Extended-day kindergarten could soon be an option for all school districts — something education leaders say could pay dividends down the road.

Tuesday the House passed a bill that would allocate $7.5 million to fund the program and would affect an estimated 10,000 students by providing a full day of kindergarten for at-risk students, while making it clear in the bill's language no student is required to participate.

A bill similar to SB49 was approved last session but died when lawmakers failed to appropriate funding. The measure is one of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s priorities and is now waiting for Senate concurrence.

Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, said one of the few blessings from No Child Left Behind was that it identifies students who are in greater need of help and intervention and calls for action. Extended-day kindergarten can give those at-risk children an early boost.

"If you look at research, it's the early intervention we provide for these students that has a direct effect on changing what happens in their lives ... and the state is free of the remediation costs later on," Holdaway said.

Fifteen Utah school districts, including Weber, Ogden, Salt Lake City and Box Elder, offered full-day kindergarten programs last year, mostly by stretching federal Title I dollars for low-income schools. Programs are available to about half of the nation's schoolchildren.