Rochester
schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says he expects the State
Legislature to pass a bill that would let the Rochester school board
make kindergarten mandatory. The school board would have to follow up
with its own legislation.
Kindergarten
attendance is mandatory for 5 year olds in 11 states, but not New
York. New York State Assembly member David Gantt and Senator Joe
Robach have introduced the Rochester bills in their individual
bodies.
The
law would apply only to the Rochester public schools, not private
institutions or home-school instruction.
Vargas
is eager to have stronger enforcement of student attendance, and good
attendance habits begin in the earlier years. But many Rochester
kindergartners miss more than 20 days of school, Vargas says.
Considering
that the majority of city kindergartners enter school with limited
vocabularies, school officials say they are already behind
academically before walking in the door.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2012.
