Friday morning, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis walked through Jackson Elementary School, pausing occasionally to chat with students and administrators, and taking a moment to read a book to a room full of kindergarteners.

Polis called on the Colorado Legislature during his campaign, and at his inauguration to fund full-day kindergarten in the state. In a budget letter released Jan. 15, he said his budget proposal includes $227 million for full-day kindergarten.

While it won’t change much for parents in Greeley at first glance – the Greeley-Evans School District 6 already has full-day kindergarten, except for three half-day offerings – the funds the district would save with additional state funding for kindergarten could be funneled elsewhere.

[swift-infobox title=”For more”]For more information about the Greeley-Evans School District 6 and its kindergarten options, go to greeleyschools.org.[/swift-infobox]

Deirdre Pilch, superintendent for District 6, said the funds the district uses for the half-day of kindergarten that isn’t currently funded by the state come from the Colorado READ Act, which focuses on literacy in kindergarten through third grade, and from the district’s general fund.

Meggan Sponsler, the chief financial officer for the district, said almost $1 million comes from the general fund, and $700,000 from the READ Act.

With those funds free from kindergarten, the $700,000 could be routed to other literacy programs and the $1 million could go to staff and other needs.

When Polis and Colo. State Rep. Rochelle Galindo, D-Greeley, walked into a classroom full of English language learners, one student was excited to learn one person at the front of the room was the governor.

“Polis?” the student exclaimed.

Polis told students he was impressed by their language skills, as they listed the two or more languages they spoke. He spoke briefly in Spanish, before encouraging the class to communicate in English. When Galindo told them speaking both English Spanish could help them communicate with a large percentage of the U.S., one student was extra surprised.

“Damn,” a tiny voice exclaimed, much to the amusement of listening adults.

English language learners are some of the students Polis hopes will be helped by the addition of full-day kindergarten. For language learning, he said, those early childhood years are hugely important.

“If the kid has access to a quality preschool and kindergarten, if their parents are not English speakers, they’re much less likely to fall behind than if they don’t have that until first or second grade,” Polis said.

Pilch also told Polis she credits part of the district’s increased academic achievement in recent years to full-day kindergarten, which District 6 started working toward providing at almost all its schools more than five years ago.

But for parents who prefer half-day, that would still be an option, Polis said. While Pilch said one of the three half-day programs would want to go to full-day, the other two would likely stay half-day, and area charter schools mostly offer half-day kindergarten.

While some districts do offer full-day kindergarten throughout the state, many only offer half a day free of charge, because that’s what the state currently funds, Polis said. For middle-class parents, sometimes paying for that half-day isn’t feasible.

“If the kid doesn’t have the ability to go they risk entering first grade already behind,” he said.

For Matthew Birnbaum, who has a child in kindergarten at Jackson, the move to state-funded all-day kindergarten is “long overdue.” Many families in the district, he said, who are working, need the full-day so their child can be taken care of while they work. And some kids, he said, look forward to the meals they get at school.

“It’s critically important,” he said.

Students, for the most part, were just excited to see the governor, and some kindergarteners told him about their enjoyment of Minecraft.

Santiago Salcido, a fifth-grader at Jackson, was one of the students who waited at the front door to greet Polis when he arrived. It was his first time meeting a governor, he said, or anyone so famous.

“It was nerve-wracking,” he said.

But he and other greeters agreed it was also very exciting

FY20_PolisBudgetLetter_1-15… by on Scribd

– Emily Wenger is the parents reporter for the Greeley Tribune, covering education in Weld County and answering as many questions parents have as she can. You can reach her at (970) 392-4468 or ewenger@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter at @emilylwenger.