The state has finally agreed to allow testing for children who narrowly miss the age cutoff. It has been an exhausting road for all of us but we reached our goal. Keep an eye on the implementation process to ensure the rules are applied fairly for these kids.
August 29, 2015
Final supporters
This petition is intended to amend the existing requirements for a child to enter Kindergarten in the state of Utah. The petition requests that children whom turn 5 on or before October 1 (at the request and expense of the parent(s) or legal guardian(s)) have a social and developmental test administered to verify their levels are at or above children entering kindergarten in sought after year. If the tested child is at or above children entering kindergarten, that child would then be allowed to enter also. Currently the law does require pre-kindergarten testing as well as throughout the school year, so the information already exists within the state system. This would allow children to be encouraged to continue their education as opposed to being told they cannot attend for an additional year because they miss the requirement by mere hours. Current research supports this amendment. This amendment would also save the state education budget significantly on funds that are currently being used to assist with children whom are bored in class and advanced beyond their peers and therefore become a disruption to class and require additional time from administration over a course of several years if not their entire early education and beyond. We currently have many programs in place to assist children whom are behind their grade level or whom have disabilities, but we do not have anything to assist children whom are ready to start kindergarten, but miss the requirements by mere hours or days.
Utah Code Title 53A Chapter 3 Part 4 Section 402
(6) Except as provided in Section 53A-1-1001, a board may enroll children in school who are at least five years of age before September 2 of the year in which admission is sought. (http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53A/Chapter3/53A-3-S...)
Section 53A-1-1001 pertains to military families only (http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53A/Chapter1/53A-1-S...)
Updates
August 19, 2015
Reaching this point has been a long and draining process that occasionally felt like pushing a boulder uphill. I am exhausted by the resistance we face but seeing this level of backing reminds me why I started this fight in the first place.
Reached 100 supporters
August 19, 2015
87 Comments
ugh I'm so frustrated that my daughter who was born in September has to wait an entire extra year. She will be so bored, and she is more then her birthdate! I'm actually trying to test her into first grade but I'm afraid I might run into issues. This makes me upset and I'm glad to see this petition.
This would have been great for my little girl who missed the cut off this year by just a couple weeks. Her dad and I are both very tall, so she is very tall and also very advanced for her age. My only option was private school which I could not afford at over $10,000 a year. Kids should be allowed to test into Kindergarten.
I so wish I could have put my son into Kindergarten. He instead went to preschool and then tested into first grade. Why is that allowed but not testing into Kindergarten? That doesn't make sense. My son is now in second grade and still doing fantastically.
I had 3 kids (birthdays September 7th, 8th, and 9th) that all had to wait until they were 6 to start school! They were never offered testing, they were simply rejected and had to wait.
Please consider children of all ages to determine reqdiness before the age of 5. My daughter was ready at age 3 (was and still is advanced) missed the deadline this year and will be almost 6 befor e she can enter Kindergarten, 2 years of waiting while ready! This is not the best for the child or th educational system!
this is an awesome idea that fixes many problems for kids ready to go to achool
My daughter was ready for kindergarten at 4, but because she was born in December, she couldn't go!
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The state has finally agreed to allow testing for children who narrowly miss the age cutoff. It has been an exhausting road for all of us but we reached our goal. Keep an eye on the implementation process to ensure the rules are applied fairly for these kids.
August 29, 2015
Final supporters
This petition is intended to amend the existing requirements for a child to enter Kindergarten in the state of Utah. The petition requests that children whom turn 5 on or before October 1 (at the request and expense of the parent(s) or legal guardian(s)) have a social and developmental test administered to verify their levels are at or above children entering kindergarten in sought after year. If the tested child is at or above children entering kindergarten, that child would then be allowed to enter also. Currently the law does require pre-kindergarten testing as well as throughout the school year, so the information already exists within the state system. This would allow children to be encouraged to continue their education as opposed to being told they cannot attend for an additional year because they miss the requirement by mere hours. Current research supports this amendment. This amendment would also save the state education budget significantly on funds that are currently being used to assist with children whom are bored in class and advanced beyond their peers and therefore become a disruption to class and require additional time from administration over a course of several years if not their entire early education and beyond. We currently have many programs in place to assist children whom are behind their grade level or whom have disabilities, but we do not have anything to assist children whom are ready to start kindergarten, but miss the requirements by mere hours or days.
Utah Code Title 53A Chapter 3 Part 4 Section 402
(6) Except as provided in Section 53A-1-1001, a board may enroll children in school who are at least five years of age before September 2 of the year in which admission is sought. (http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53A/Chapter3/53A-3-S...)
Section 53A-1-1001 pertains to military families only (http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53A/Chapter1/53A-1-S...)
Updates
August 19, 2015
Reaching this point has been a long and draining process that occasionally felt like pushing a boulder uphill. I am exhausted by the resistance we face but seeing this level of backing reminds me why I started this fight in the first place.
Reached 100 supporters
August 19, 2015
87 Comments
My daughter is so advanced that at preschool they constantly comment that she is ready for school. She misses the cutoff by 12 days and it isn't fair that she can't be tested in.
ugh I'm so frustrated that my daughter who was born in September has to wait an entire extra year. She will be so bored, and she is more then her birthdate! I'm actually trying to test her into first grade but I'm afraid I might run into issues. This makes me upset and I'm glad to see this petition.
This would have been great for my little girl who missed the cut off this year by just a couple weeks. Her dad and I are both very tall, so she is very tall and also very advanced for her age. My only option was private school which I could not afford at over $10,000 a year. Kids should be allowed to test into Kindergarten.
I so wish I could have put my son into Kindergarten. He instead went to preschool and then tested into first grade. Why is that allowed but not testing into Kindergarten? That doesn't make sense. My son is now in second grade and still doing fantastically.
I had 3 kids (birthdays September 7th, 8th, and 9th) that all had to wait until they were 6 to start school! They were never offered testing, they were simply rejected and had to wait.
Please consider children of all ages to determine reqdiness before the age of 5. My daughter was ready at age 3 (was and still is advanced) missed the deadline this year and will be almost 6 befor e she can enter Kindergarten, 2 years of waiting while ready! This is not the best for the child or th educational system!
this is an awesome idea that fixes many problems for kids ready to go to achool
My daughter was ready for kindergarten at 4, but because she was born in December, she couldn't go!
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My daughter is so advanced that at preschool they constantly comment that she is ready for school. She misses the cutoff by 12 days and it isn't fair that she can't be tested in.