Twenty-four schools have been identified as possible candidates for next year’s launch of all-day kindergarten in School District 43 — all based on strict criteria to ensure costs aren’t downloaded from the province.

SD43 assistant superintendent Maureen Dockendorf won’t identify the schools because it’s up to the province to make the final selection. But she said she hopes the decision won’t be long in coming because kindergarten registration starts in January and parents will have to decide then whether to enrol their children in the extended day for September 2010.

“We need to know and we are well-positioned. We are one of the districts that is pedagogically and space-wise ahead of most districts,” Dockendorf said in an interview last week.

Provincial government plans call for half of B.C.’s five-year-olds to be covered by the new full-day kindergarten format in 2010, with the rest to follow in 2011.

The move toward full-day kindergarten continues despite funding concerns from school districts and the BC School Trustees’ Association.

The province has allotted $151 million — $44 million for the first year of the transition to full-day kindergarten and $107 million for the second year — and Dockendorf said the money will pay for teaching time but not for extra resources, such as education materials, which can cost up to $20,000 per classroom.

To make sure the district isn’t on the hook for extra costs, all-day kindergarten will go first to schools that have sufficient space and materials and populations of vulnerable children who would benefit most, Dockendorf explained.

“We cannot, in days of budget reductions, if there’s not resources, put forward schools if there aren’t the resources,” she added.

Money concerns aside, Dockendorf said the district welcomes the move to all-day kindergarten, which will be optional for families, pointing to research that shows it can improve the chances of success in school, particularly for vulnerable children.

“I think all-day [kindergarten] has the potential to improve life chances for these children. I absolutely do. For some children, the safest haven for them is the school,” she said, calling the government’s plan “major social change.”

SD43 has been working on all-day kindergarten for more than a year even though the original 2009 start date was scrapped for budgetary reasons. Dockendorf said two leading researchers in early childhood education are helping the district develop a seamless transition to all-day kindergarten.

To keep a lid on costs, Jane Bertrand, a professor in early childhood education, and Jane Beach, a Victoria-based policy consultant, have visited the district when it fits in with their schedules and will be addressing teachers and principals on Nov. 30.

Dockendorf said all-day kindergarten won’t be different from the current half-day program that some ESL and Aboriginal students already get. There won’t be nap time but the longer day will enable teachers to spend more time on topics such as art music and reading, and learning how to get along with each other — just like they do in half-day programs.

“The curriculum is already there,” Dockendorf said.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com