Marblehead kindergarten program adds 100 students

MARBLEHEAD – The schools appear to have dodged two budget bullets this summer. All-day kindergarten enrollment, which stood at 141 in mid-July, has added 100 students and appears to be past the break-even point for the program.According to a report by School Business Manager Brian Salzer there are 240 students enrolled in the all-day program, out of 249 kindergarten students and Salzer is estimating 250 all-day students by the first day of school, Sept. 7. As of last week, families paid the first installment for 157 students. His report included some approximate budget numbers, based on that assumption.At the new $2,600 fee for all-day kindergarten, payable at $260 a month, the program could receive as much as $650,000 in fees for 250 students, depending on the number of families that qualify for reduced tuition.A 250-student enrollment would require 12 classrooms of 22 students or less, the current staff load for kindergarten. In addition to the potential $650,000 in fees, Marblehead is expecting a $139,200 kindergarten grant this year, for a total of $789,000 in funding.Salzer said he plans to report on the program in more detail Sept. 2.On Superintendent Paul Dulac’s recommendation, the School Committee doubled all-day kindergarten tuition last spring, raising it from $1,368 to $2,600. At the time Dulac and his administrative team expected 220 students to enroll. The anticipated discussion of a formula for increasing athletic and activity fees won’t be happening this fall, on a recommendation from the new Athletic Director, Mark Tarmey, a former permanent substitute teacher at the Marblehead Veterans Middle School and coach of junior varsity ice hockey.Administrators will study the fee structure in the coming year.Tarmey will be paid the new salary for the job, half the salary of a full-time teacher. He is taking the place of Mike Plansky, who resigned Aug. 17.