Portage all-day K brings new teachers

PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) -
all-day kindergarten played a major role in the hiring of 37 new teachers in Portage, an aberration with many West Michigan school districts cutting back.

Portage district leaders told 24 Hour News 8 they're not immune to those cuts, and pointed out just last year all district employees took a 2.5% pay cut.  Superintendent Ric Perry said some of the funds from that pay cut will go to pay for some new staff.  Perry said it just got to the point where they needed more teachers in the classroom.

"We've been fairly fiscally prudent," said Perry. "And with the drop in salary, the two-and-a-half percent, we were able to make it work this year."  

Nearly half of the new hires -- those who will replace retired teachers or fill new positions created by the all-day kindergarten -- have masters degrees. 24 Hour News 8 learned even though more than three dozen teachers were hired, they were chosen from a pool of more than 2600 applicants.

"I think that statistic is really sad in a lot of ways," said Perry. "A lot of those folks have a lot of money wrapped up in their education that we paid for here in Michigan, most of them, and they'll essentially go elsewhere or take their jobs outside their major areas."

The cost for these extra teachers is roughly $2 million a year in salary and benefits.  Perry said that the hires will likely mean the district's budget will have about a $700,000 deficit this school year.  He said that doesn't mean the district overall is in debt, rather Portage will just have to dip into savings in order to make up the gap.

A gap, Perry said, that would have been bigger if they hadn't decided to move ahead with all-day kindergarten.  

The state used to pay a full state-aid allotment for kindergarten students who only spent a half-day in class. Earlier this year the state decided to only pay for the hours that students were in class, which would mean districts would lose half the state aid allotment if they didn't extend kindergarten hours.  

Perry said their school district would have lost $2.5 million if they hadn't extended their kindergarten classes. Creating all day kindergarten cost about $1.5 million.  

"We talk about money a lot, but really, it's about student learning," he said. "And we're really excited about that."

Perry said the district had considered creating all-day kindergarten classes for years, but it never worked out until now.  He said district officials and teachers believe it's an opportunity for kindergarten students.
 
"I think overall this is really going to give (kindergartners) a great chance to really meet all those academic goals that we have for them, that the state has for them, that the district has and it's going to give them more time to master those skills and make sure they're even more ready to go on to first grade," said new Portage kindergarten teacher Sara Hamberg.  She said she understands not everyone will think all-day K is right for every child, but said she truly believes it will offer kids a leg up.  

"There are so many more things that go into a child's education than test scores," Perry said. "If you were to walk around our schools, I think you would see an effort from our personnel to provide a really well-rounded education for our children."