Kindergarten Classes Spared In Fairfield-Suisun District

FAIRFIELD (CBS13) — Outraged parents stormed a Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District board meeting Thursday when they heard of a plan to cut all kindergarten classes, but the board quickly took action to quell the anger.

The announcement: "Kindergarten will not be a topic of discussion tonight" was met with a big round of applause.

Legally, the district says it could have cut kindergarten classes from 17 elementary schools, but the idea brought parents out in full force and was quickly put to rest.

"Where are they supposed to go?" one parent wondered.

"I just don't understand how they could do that," said another.

But to the amazement of many, the district says it seriously contemplated taking the childhood staple away for at least one year starting next school year in hopes of making up around $3 million of a more than $6.5 million projected budget shortfall. The board decided not to consider it during closed session.

"It was wonderful news," parent Courtney Sciortino said.

Sciortino was one of the hundreds of parents who turned out Thursday to support kindergarten — she has two daughters, one 5 and the other 3.

"I couldn't even believe it was an option that they even thought of that, because nowadays kindergarten is so important," she said.

"It speaks to the enormous issue that we have with our budget crisis," said Assistant Superintendent Kris Corey.

Corey says she too is relieved at the decision but the outlook is still bleak. The board instead voted to close one elementary and one middle school — a trade that keeps kindergarten classes but leaves many others impacted.

"None of the options were favorable," Corey said.

The district says there's a chance cuts could be reduced if Gov. Brown's tax proposals gain voter approval in November.