Anchor Bay Making Kindergarten Changes Next School Year

Anchor Bay Schools will have kindergarten students in the classroom with certified teachers throughout the day next school year.

While addressing , the school district that placed full-day kindergarten students with paraprofessionals half the day and certified teachers the other half.

"We feel that was highly successful, but we can no longer do that," Director of Elementary Education Marie Dewitte said Tuesday.

Going back to the original classroom structure was necessary for funding purposes, Dewitte said.

"We have to have them full-day with certified teachers," she said of the reason to move away from paraprofessionals. "The state is no longer going to pay for that."

The district will also continue to offer half-day kindergarten for students whose parents think shorter days would be better for their children. More details about where the half-day classes will be offered should be available in mid-summer. Full-day kindergarten is expected to be at each child's home school, depending on enrollment, she said.

Paraprofessionals who have been working in the classrooms this school year will most likely be placed in other needed areas. Meanwhile, certified educators with credentials to teach kindergarten may be hired for the next school year. It is also possible that teachers who were laid off in 2011 could be called back if they are available, she said.