It used to be that if you wanted to enroll your kid in full-day kindergarten, you had to write a check for $3,250, made payable to the Bainbridge Island School District.

A bill with no funding

And sometimes, that tuition wasn’t enough to snag a spot. Due to limited space, you might end up on a wait list with a bunch of other families trying to forgo the free half-day option.

The problem had everything to do with state funding. Although the Legislature passed an education reform bill, House Bill 2261, in 2009, revising the state’s definition of “basic education” to include state-funded all-day kindergarten, it didn’t attach any funding to the bill initially, said Galen Crawford, spokeswoman for the Bainbridge district. The state would only reimburse local school districts for costs associated with half-day kindergarten; if parents wanted their kindergarteners in school for longer, they would have to be the ones to offset the additional staffing and operational costs.

McCleary yields change

Then the McCleary decision came along, and the state began rolling out funding for low-income districts. But Bainbridge didn’t meet that minimum threshold.

“Because the district’s poverty numbers weren’t high enough, we were not eligible to receive state funds for full-day kindergarten,” Crawford explained.

Last summer, the Legislature passed a biennial operating budget that finally ensured full funding for every district by the 2017-2018 school year. As a newly eligible district, the Bainbridge Island School District could opt to receive full funding a year early, meaning families who register for full-day kindergarten this February can leave their checkbooks at home.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer state-funded full-day kindergarten for all families who wish that option,” said Sheryl Belt, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Bainbridge schools.

Belt noted that state support, while a big break for parents, will not significantly change the district’s programming because full-day kindergarten classes already outnumber half-day classes 8-to-1.

Half-day option to stay

The district will continue to offer a half-day option for families who prefer it, Belt said, “but we don’t predict that many parents will select this option.”

“Depending on how many students register for half day, we’ll decide what the best option is for those students,” she added.

Full-day kindergarten students follow the same schedule as first- through fourth-graders, attending classes from 7:50 a.m. to 2:20 p.m., whereas half-day students are dismissed at 10:50 a.m.

The full-day program is not designed to be an accelerated option, though students in the full-day program do receive extended learning opportunities in the core academic subjects, as well as twice as much instruction in music, art, physical education and library-media than their half-day counterparts.

Registration opens soon

All three elementary schools — Wilkes, Blakely and Ordway — offer full-day kindergarten, and full-day kindergarten options are also available through the Mosaic Parent Partnership Program at Commodore Options and Ordway’s Spanish Immersion Program.

To learn more and pick up registration packets, parents should attend the Kindergarten Orientation Meeting at Ordway Elementary from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Registration packets may also be picked up at any of the elementary schools beginning Feb. 4.

To qualify for the program, students must be 5 years old by Aug. 31, 2016.

Belt stressed that parents should register early, so that the district can have adequate staffing in place.

“It’s really important we register all students who will be attending as soon as we can so we can accurately plan for classes and staffing next fall,” Belt said. “We’re hopeful to not be adding too many additional students at the last minute next August.”

Tour school facilities

School visitations will also be held at each elementary school in February: Wilkes, 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9; Blakely, 8.15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10; and Ordway, 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 11. Prospective students and their parents will have the opportunity to meet the principal, visit a kindergarten classroom and take a bus tour.