Melrose Schools Switch to One-Time School Assignment at Kindergarten

Melrose Public Schools will do away with its first grade re-enrollment policy, and instead write a new policy that assigns students to an elementary school only once—when those students are entering kindergarten.

The Melrose School Committee voted on the change at its meeting on Tuesday night. Still to come: a debate over whether students who attend private kindergarten and then enter Melrose Schools in the first grade, or families who move to Melrose after kindergarten enrollment, should also have a first grade seat reserved for them in their elementary school of choice.

Melrose's first grade re-enrollment policy sought to maintain the smallest and most equitable class sizes across the city's five elementary schools, while also giving half-day kindergarten students the opportunity to apply for their school of choice. Because of the small number of students who attend half-day kindergarten—only six this school year—only one elementary school each year hosts a half-day kindergarten classroom.

The committee revisited the policy in the spring, after a larger number of parents than usual—12 families, nine of whom had children in kindergarten at the —learned that their this year than they attended last year. Those parents wrote a .

One-time placement vs. hybrid kindergarten classes

Options were quickly narrowed down to two. One-time placement at kindergarten registration would essentially hold a spot for kindergarten students in the first grade classes and mean possible unequal class sizes at kindergarten, explained Kristin Thorp, chairwoman of the School Committee's Policy and Planning subcommittee.

The second option was to mix full-day and half-day kindergarten students in classrooms and create a hybrid model that would result in equal kindergarten class sizes across the district. At a public meeting in July, school principals expressed concerns over the programming and scheduling difficulties presented by the hybrid model, while some parents expressed concerns about the social impact it could have on half-day students.

"We need to move forward on this, at this time, because registration is coming up in January and we need to write the policy," Thorp said.

Cost of full-day kindergarten; importance of neighborhood schools

Mayor Rob Dolan said one question raised by the public in debating a new policy was whether the city could offer free full-day kindergarten to eliminate the problem, but that would cost the city approximately $600,000 and the city "only brings in $800,000 in new taxes" each year.

Thorp added that according to the law, the city can't charge for full-day kindergarten unless it offers a free half-day program.

Also, Dolan noted that the sense of community around the neighborhood elementary schools is important to families "and in many cases more important than class sizes," saying that the displaced Roosevelt families were offered class sizes of "almost private school size" and still preferred higher class sizes at the school of their choice.

"I believe in our superintendent and believe that the superintendent of schools should have leeway—that the superintendent should be able to grant waivers as he or she feels fit, as long that does not violate the teacher’s contract or the policies of the School Committee," Dolan said.

What about private kindergarten students, families who move to Melrose?

Before advocating for the ability of the superintendent to grant waivers, Dolan mentioned the comments of resident Gerry Mroz, who first advocated for those waivers during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Mroz said the ability of the superintendent to grant waivers to the placement policy is needed to avoid discriminating against families who may move to Melrose after the kindergarten enrollment deadline, but before the student enters first grade.

Along similar lines, committee member Christine Casatelli offered an amendment that would also hold spots in first grade classes for families who elect to send their children to private kindergarten, specifically citing families who may already have a sibling in the Melrose system.

Thorp and Superintendent Joe Casey noted that the more exceptions that are built into the policy, the harder it becomes for every family to get their first choice of school. Thorp also said early in the discussion that the change to one-time placement does not guarantee placement in the family's school of choice.

"This does not ensure every single person will get their first choice," she said.

Thorp asked the committee to first choose between the two options before it—the one-time placement, or the hybrid model—and that amendments could be discussed at a future meeting, when a draft policy is brought forth.

After voting for the one-time placement, Thorp said draft policies will be posted by the beginning of next week on the Policy and Planning subcommittee's website.