WASHINGTON 鈥� Loudoun County is the only聽school district in the D.C. area that does聽not offer universal full-day kindergarten, and the superintendent wants to change that.
Superintendent Eric Williams wants half of all Loudoun County students to be offered full-day kindergarten within four years,聽reports.
Right now,聽more than two-thirds of Loudoun County 5-year-olds聽attend half-day kindergarten. The full-day program is offered only to聽students from low-income families,聽English language learners or children in special education.
Several factors may explain why full-day kindergarten hasn’t been implemented universally in Loudoun County already, according to the The Post:
- Research is unclear on whether聽average students benefit.
- The school system has been dealing with a population explosion聽鈥斅爉ore than doubling in size in 15 years, and costs to expand the program would be substantial.
- Just building the classrooms necessarily to implement Williams’ planned expansion could cost $36 million over four years.
Already this school year, full-day kindergarten聽has nearly tripled in size, just to cover all聽of Loudoun County’s children with special needs.
