South Bend school board votes to let kids start kindergarten younger for 2025-26 school year

South Bend-South Bend Schools set the age requirement for kindergarten students and allow more children to start school at 2025-26 potentially.

During a board meeting held on Monday, August 4, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the amendment of the Board of Directors dated 5112, which required previous kindergarten students to be on August 1 or August 1st. According to the new policy, children should be 5 years old on October 1 or before.

The Board of Directors Lawyer Pete Agostino said that the change was allowed by Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner; The previous state policy also adhered to the threshold of August 1.

Agostino added that he believes that there was a change to allow more students to start school, but that the children do not need to register for the school unless the parents believe that their children are ready. The changing threshold gives parents the option to start their children before school.

“Some parents hold their children back because they don’t think they’re ready, and other parents will say, ‘Oh, this child is really developed; I will bring them to school’.” He said.

However, South Bend Teachers’ Association President Linda Lucy, more students, some preschool or preschool or never or never at all, teachers will need a lot of help, he said. He argued that the region was looking at smaller class dimensions to help in the classroom to balance these challenges, and to employ Paraprofessions.

“The sooner we take children to school, the better we know, the better we will, the better we will, Lu Lucy said. …… But we will have to deal with special needs for many small ones who are not ready to be there. ”

Send South Bend Tribune Education Reporter Rayleigh Deaton at rteaton@gannett.com.

This article was initially published in South Bend Tribune: SOUTH BEND SCHOOL COMMITTEE APPLIES THE NEW KINDERGARTEN AGE REQUIREMENT