OPS adopting strict kindergarten age policy
Mar. 26—Owensboro Public Schools is currently in the process of setting a hard age requirement deadline for students who are eligible to enroll in kindergarten.
Currently, students who will be 5 years old by Aug. 1 are eligible for kindergarten. The new OPS policy will set a date range; allowing students who will turn 5 anytime between Aug. 1 and Oct. 1 to be eligible for entry. This is a rule that has been enacted for some time, but the policy will set definite parameters.
According to the Kentucky Revised Statutes legislation, each school board has to adopt a policy to allow a parent or guardian to petition the board to allow a student to attend public school who doesn't meet the age requirement.
Lynne Beavers, OPS assessment coordinator, said there has been a process in the district for parents to petition for early entry since the 2017-18 school year, which is when the Kentucky Department of Education changed the entry date for kindergarten.
Prior to that year, students had to be 5 by Oct. 1 to be eligible for kindergarten. However, at that time legislation didn't establish a "final" date for entry, Beavers said.
"Theoretically, under the legislation as written, a parent could apply for early entry for their 3-year-old," she said. "That definitely hasn't ever happened, but we have had a few petitions for early entry for students not turning 5 until November of December."
The revised policy will be a definitive clarification, she said.
Daviess County Public Schools also has a criteria for early entrance into kindergarten, according to Leslie Peveler, district director of elementary education and multi-tiered systems of support coordinator.
Students who turn 5 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 1 are eligible to enroll in DCPS kindergarten, provided that the student meets criteria established by the district's board of education. The deadline to submit the petition for early enrollment into kindergarten is March 31.
Peveler said the DCPS policy was reviewed in spring of 2020. The policy was established to "possibly provide the opportunity to a few students who may meet screening qualifications ... for entrance."
"This is quite the exception and a very small number of families apply for this or qualify after screening," she said.
Other criteria include the child being a resident of Daviess County, and the child meeting qualifications on the BRIGANCE screener.
The KRS also states that students must also complete an evaluation process to help determine their readiness for school.
BRIGANCE is a short screening tool used by KDE for students in preschool, kindergarten and first grade, that provides a quick but accurate assessment of a child's development in five areas: academic/cognitive, language, development, physical development, self-help and social-emotional development.
Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315
