SOUTH BEND — South Bend schools has adjusted the age requirement for kindergarten students, allowing more children at potentially younger ages to start school in 2025-26.
During a board meeting on Monday, Aug. 4, trustees unanimously approved an amendment to board policy 5112, which previously required incoming kindergarten students to be 5 years old on or before Aug. 1 of a given school year. Under the new policy, children must be 5 years old on or before Oct. 1.
Board attorney Pete Agostino said the change was allowed by Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner; previous state policy also adhered to the Aug. 1 threshold.
Agostino said he believes the change was made to allow more students to start school, but he added that children aren't required to enroll in school that early if parents don't believe their child is ready. The changed threshold simply gives parents the option to start their child in school earlier, he explained.
"Some parents hold their kids back a little bit because they don't think they're ready, and other parents are going to say, 'Oh, this kid's really advanced; I'm going to bring them into school,'" Agostino said.
But Linda Lucy, the South Bend teachers union president, cautioned that with the potential influx of more students, some at younger ages with little to no preschool, teachers will need a lot of help. She suggested that the district look into implementing smaller class sizes and hiring paraprofessionals to assist in the classroom to offset these challenges.
"The sooner we get kids in school, we all know, the better off they are and we are," Lucy said. "… But we're going to have to address the special needs for lots of little ones who aren't really ready to be there."
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Rayleigh Deaton at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend school board approves new kindergarten age requirement
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