In a unanimous decision Monday night, the Brandywine Community Schools Board of Education approved offering all-day kindergarten at the start of the 2011-2012 school year.

“We’ve discussed it for the past several years,” Supt. John Jarpe said Tuesday. “(We) looked at the advantages, looked at whether or not we had the space for it. We’ve always considered that. We looked at the number of kids that might take advantage of it. It’s something we’ve always discussed but not in depth as we did this year.”

Jarpe said the district formed a committee to look further into the option and surveyed parents of students who have been in kindergarten over the last several years.

in addition to those findings, Jarpe said he found research that supported all-day kindergarten as a positive for students.

“I think people see the educational advantage,” he said. “It’s the old ‘pay now, pay later’ philosophy. The earlier you get kids reading and writing and understanding numbers and getting all those concepts, you know, you catch them earlier and you’re not going to have them falling behind later on. I think there’s substantial research that backs that up.”

The district has offered only half-day kindergarten for as long as Principal Karen Weimer can remember. Weimer has been principal at Merritt Elementary School for 12 years.

“Probably seven years ago, we offered as an alternative an all-day (schedule) for Section 1 students and we did it for one year and we didn’t do it again,” she said.

In surveying parents, Weimer said there were those with concerns that switching to an all-day schedule might be too much for young students.

“They didn’t feel that they (children) were ready for it developmentally,” she said, “that they would be too tired.”

A rest period will be factored into the all-day schedule, Weimer said, adding there are benefits to the new schedule for parents, teachers and students alike.

“The kindergarten teachers will be able to know the students better,” she said. “This will give them the opportunity to really know the students and really know the family as well.”

Parents, she added, may just see their children progress further than they may have thought they would.

Overall, she expects a “smoother schedule” inside the classroom.

Outside the classroom is the question of cost as district budgets tighten under imposing state funding cuts.

“There is more cost to it,” Jarpe said. “But there are ways you can supplement kindergarten using some federal grant monies (or) Title monies. We’re investigating that to see how much we can allocate in terms of that kind of funding and how much we can allocate from the general fund.”

Switching to all-day kindergarten adds the need to provide lunch to those students, but also cuts out mid-day bus runs.

Parents who have questions or concerns can discuss them with school officials during registration, which will be held Monday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Merritt Elementary School.