KINDERGARTEN PLAN

Cape Girardeau's kindergartners will attend classes longer this fall with all-day programs. And, starting next year, they will be a little younger.

A new law will move back the birthday cutoff date for enrollment from to Aug. 1 from July 1 for the 1997-98 school year. Currently, only children who turn 5 by July 1 are eligible to attend kindergarten.

The change won't be significant. No matter where the cutoff is placed, there will always be plenty of children on both sides, and some children will always miss the date by a slight margin.

It is interesting, though, that after years of moving the date back -- to ensure older kindergarten students -- the trend has finally turned. Years ago, the cutoff date was in the fall.

But the move back represents a compromise: students will be slightly younger, but early testing opportunities will be eliminated. In the past, parents who felt their child was kindergarten-ready and was born in July, August or September could ask that the child be tested. Those who passed the test were allowed to attend.

But attending school requires more than intelligence to fit in. The whole point of moving the age cutoff back was to help ensure students were mature enough for the rigors of school. The issue of maturity will be even more important as kindergartners attend all day in a growing number of districts.

Cape Girardeau will begin all-day kindergarten this fall in all elementary schools. Jackson hopes an Aug. 6 bond issue that includes a new elementary school will allow enough space to offer districtwide all-day kindergarten in two years.

Senate Bill 380 allows a financial incentive to schools that offer all-day kindergarten in that students can be counted full time. State allocations are based on the number of full-time students. For many youngsters, it won't mean much of a change. Since many children come from households in which two parents work, most are already in a daycare setting all day. And most day cares are much more than baby-sitters, they provide early learning settings for children.

Since kindergarten still remains optional in Missouri, those parents who object to an all-day setting can seek other private learning alternatives. For the vast majority of children, all-day kindergarten makes sense.