By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Burlington Area School District Superintendent Peter Smet knew plans would need to be made if the district approved 4-year-old kindergarten.
But because he couldn’t make those plans ahead of time – and appear to put pressure on the board to approve the 4K program – now the district is working hard to get the pieces in place for the program to start next fall.
“I did not want to do too much preliminary work with local community providers and parents,” said Smet on Tuesday. “I didn’t want to put the board in a bad position.
“If there was already a perception that the process and the approvals were in place … that would have put the board in a bad place,” he added. “Now we have a lot of things to put in place.
“And they will be put into place.”
Members of the BASD School Board Curriculum Committee got a tour of one of the projected sites for 4K on Friday. Since the district is going to use a blended model of already-established community sites and in-district assets, the first site to get a visit was the CATHE Center.
The center – CATHE stands for Community, Art, Technology, Health, and Education – has been home to the Children’s House Montessori pre-school program for the past eight years.
CATHE Center Director Jennie King guided the tour Friday afternoon, showing off the second-floor Montessori classrooms – which handle a small number of children ages 3-5.
King said central to the Montessori classroom philosophy is the idea of the 3-5-year-olds working together through a three-year program, but also added during the tour that she would be open to helping provide a traditional 4K classroom.
There are some other possible hurdles to using the CATHE Center, mainly because the building is not handicap accessible.
“Based on what I understand the requirements that the state is going to put on the location for 4K – i.e., square footage, lighting, sink height – I fear that the CATHE Center will not be able to afford to become a member,” said School Board member Phil Ketterhagen when asked Tuesday.
King said Tuesday that supporters have been generous in helping the center survive, and the handicap accessibility is an issue that is being looked at.
“We need to determine what needs to be done and go from there,” she said. “I don’t have a definitive answer. We’ve been looking at this possibility for some time.”
School Board member Rosanne Hahn said she found the tour interesting, and praised King for her knowledge and passion for children. She did have concerns about the facility itself – namely accessibility.
“I think for it to be usable, quite a lot of things would have to be done to the building itself,” Hahn explained.
Smet said Tuesday that there are no other board tours scheduled at this time, but he and Assistant Superintendent Connie Zinnen are scheduled to meet with two other area preschools.
“We just had a preliminary meeting and a tour,” said Smet. “We have not made any progress beyond that.”
School Board member Jim Bousman said he felt it was clear the board needed to be involved in the partnership process.
“Basically, it was just a walkthrough,” Bousman said. “With the CATHE Center, they’re more than willing to make any changes necessary.
“I think it was very positive.”
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