Mar 2, 2017 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Area families are raising concerns about a Central Greene kindergarten admission policy that the board has changed twice in the last eight days.

Chris and Jennifer Lash were planning to enroll their 4-year-old daughter Claire in the 2017-18 school year. They looked at the district’s policy on kindergarten ages in 2015, and the district’s rule was that students had to turn 5 by Sept. 1.

“We decided to put her in preschool,” Chris Lash said. “We didn’t think we’d need to check the policy again.”

In May 2016, the board changed the Sept. 1 birthday cut-off to June 1, five days prior to Claire’s birthday. The change was to take effect for the 2017-18 school year, leaving students like Claire with a year between preschool and kindergarten.

After receiving complaints about the change during the board’s Feb. 21 meeting, board member Kevin Barnhart made a motion to allow the Sept. 1 date to remain in effect for the 2017-18 school year and implement the June 1 deadline in the 2018-19. The board approved the motion.

Lash said he then received an email from Superintendent Brian Uplinger informing him of the changes and that Claire would be able attend kindergarten. But during the board’s Wednesday special meeting, just eight days later, it unanimously rescinded the motion without discussing it publicly.

“Now, I don’t even know where we stand,” Lash said. “We had just broken the news to our daughter, who was very excited about attending kindergarten, and now we had to tell her she can’t go again.”

Barnhart and fellow board member Sarah Hughes were not present at Wednesday’s meeting in which the board went into executive session for about 30 minutes, before taking public action on the policy. Board member Beth Hellems made the motion to rescind, it was seconded and a roll call was taken, without any discussion by the board.

Asked when the board members changed their minds about the policy, board President Andrew Corfont said “Wednesday during the meeting.” He was the only board member at Wednesday’s meeting who could be reached for comment Thursday.

“Three members on the board went to Brian Uplinger and requested a special meeting,” Corfont said.

When asked when the board discussed the motion, since it was not discussed publicly, district solicitor Kirk King said that an opportunity for discussion was available during the meeting, but the board chose not to use it. He said the board does not always discuss every motion and that members can change their minds on an issue without discussing it.

When asked the same question, Corfont referred to King’s response.

But that response doesn’t clear everything up for Lash, who wonders if the board discussed the kindergarten issue privately. He questions how all of the board members could have been on the same page from one week to the next, without discussing the issue.

“With no public discussion, we were just curious how six of the board members changed their votes,” he said. “I just find it hard to believe that within a week, six of the board members changed their minds without any discussion.

“Now, I’m wondering whether it’s worth sending her to Central Greene or if we should look at other options.”