Manheim Township School District is scrapping plans to implement full-day kindergarten classes at all its elementary schools next year.
Superintendent Gene Freeman said the district is committed to the program, but it can't afford to staff the classes in 2012-13.
"It's just an economic issue right now," he said.
The school district is facing a deficit of about $3.5 million next year, Freeman said, and is looking to trim its teaching staff to cut costs. The full-day program would require hiring five or six additional kindergarten teachers, officials have said.
The decision was announced Wednesday on the district's website without public discussion by the school board. Freeman said it was based on executive-session discussions with board members on personnel issues.
Twenty-four district teachers are planning to take early retirements at the end of the current school year under an incentive offered by the district, he said.
"My recommendation will be to replace as few (positions) as possible," Freeman said. "If we can't hire any new people, how do you start a kindergarten program right now?"
Freeman estimates the retirements will "conservatively" reduce the district's labor costs next year by about $1.6 million.
Manheim Township had been planning for several years to add the full-day kindergarten program and started a pilot class this year at Reidenbaugh Elementary School.
Freeman said he's hoping the pilot can continue in 2012-13, along with extended-day kindergarten classes that serve students with academic difficulties, but he said no decisions have been made on those programs.
School board president Hannah Bartges said she also supports continuing those programs.
The decision to postpone full-day kindergarten was difficult, Bartges said. However, board members were concerned that if the program were to be implemented next year, the district might have to cut it in the future because of tight funding.
"I think all of us are disappointed, but we're trying to be very cautious in the economic decisions we make," she said.
The district will reconsider implementing the program for the 2013-14 school year.
Officials announced the decision this week so parents who were planning to enroll their children in the full-day classes can consider other options, district spokeswoman Marcie Brody said.
Proponents of full-day kindergarten say it better prepares students for success later in their academic careers.
Most school districts in Lancaster County offer some full-day classes, but only about one-third of them have districtwide programs.
