Finding rooms will be one challenge for all-day kindergarten, says MacDiarmid
The Tri-City News
By Diane Strandberg
September 04, 2009

Schools with empty classroom space are more likely to get all-day kindergarten next September, says Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid.

The program, which will cost $50 million to implement next year and $100 million in 2011, will be open to all districts, MacDiarmid said in a conference call Friday with reporters.

Some of the challenges in implementing longer school days for five-year-olds include finding qualified teachers and room in schools where space is at a premium.

"It is working with each individual school district and figuring out how many classrooms and what schools [can accommodate the new program]," MacDiarmid said of the planning now underway.

Cramped schools may have to look at portables in order to free up space for longer kindergarten programs, MacDiarmid said, but she doesn't expect any problems coming up with 1,000 trained teachers….