Having asked Lenni Nedley, coordinator of elementary education, federal programs and instruction for the Greensburg Salem School District, to clarify the district’s recent decision to move the kindergarten cutoff date from the widely accepted Sept. 1 to Aug. 1, she referred me to Section 1304 of the Pennsylvania School Code. While this supports some district autonomy, it also states that schools may “admit beginners who are less than five years and seven months of age” so long as they are academically prepared. Greensburg Salem’s choice to exclude, rather than include, learners goes against the grain of public education’s mission.

Neighboring districts like Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Norwin, whose admittance cutoff is Sept. 1, seem to have overcome such deficits, scoring significantly higher than Greensburg on state tests.

If Nedley genuinely believes that kindergarten students are entering Greensburg Salem with “a deficit in kindergarten readiness for the demands of the current Pennsylvania Core Standards and Early Childhood Standards,” as stated in an email to me, it would behoove the district to enroll kindergartners as early as possible to better prepare them for their future testing.

I have never been an advocate for school choice, but a decision like this, negatively impacting families both educationally and financially, makes it difficult to choose Greensburg Salem.

Ashley Washburn

Salem

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