The consequences have been serious. Parents said principals are retracting previous assurances that they could enroll their children late, and there has been little flexibility with children with special circumstances. At least two families have been reported to the city’s child welfare agency for truancy because they did not send their 5-year-olds to kindergarten on time.
And the children whose families sought to give them more time to develop may be further behind. Students who spent an extra year in preschool or day care missed kindergarten, a year that focuses on playtime and socialization but has increased in academic rigor.
The number of students who started kindergarten late during the 2024-2025 school year was not immediately available Thursday, but district officials said they are aware of about 10 families who are trying to do so this fall.
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I think the answer to her question why is: It’s part of the struggle against (what is perceived as) white privilege: “It is difficult to determine exactly how common it is to delay a child’s enrollment in school. Some national data suggest it’s rare — somewhere between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent of eligible children do it. Most of those students are boys born in the summer months. Academic redshirting is also more common among White children at schools that serve large numbers of wealthy families, who can afford an extra year of preschool or day care, according to an article published by the American Educational Research Association.” –Ann Althouse.