Another bond issue could be in Mandan's future as the school district tries to fit all-day kindergarten into its existing buildings.

Voters would need to pass a bond issue if a sixth-grade wing is added to the new Mandan Middle School.

The Mandan School Board presented this option at its second forum on all-day kindergarten Tuesday at Mandan High School.

A larger, tougher crowd kept the Mandan School Board on the defensive much of the evening. Many of those in attendance were upset about the board's proposal to move the sixth-graders into the junior high school building, at least temporarily.

The junior high is an option for making room for the kindergarten classes by moving all the sixth-graders into the junior high next year. It would be a temporary fix, until an addition could be added to the yet-to-be finished middle school. Moving the sixth grade to the junior high would cost about $90,000 for renovation and supplies.

"I'm not happy about moving anybody," Superintendent Wilfred Volesky said, but it is necessary to make space avialable.

The sixth-grade wing at the middle school would be necessary to make space in the elementary schools for all-day kindergarten.

The cost of the wing would be about $2.1 million, and, after the district takes out a school construction loan, the voters could be asked to foot the remaining $1.4 million. It could mean an additional 4.4 mills in school property taxes, or $30 per year on a $150,000 home.

The sixth-grade wing wasn't built as part of the original bond issue because the board wanted to keep within the wishes of the community, board member Kirsten Baesler said.

The bond issue passed in April 2005, Baesler said. "At the end of the legislative session in 2005, legislators defeated funding for all-day kindergarten, and the community told us they didn't want us to commit a dollar amount on projections only, they wanted it to be on hard data," Baesler said.

So the new middle school was planned with common areas for three grade levels and designed to eventually accommodate the sixth-grade wing.

Some people in the audience suggested the district wait to offer all-day kindergarten until the addition could be built, but there are other motivations for the district to make the move next year.

The district could lose out on about $307,000 next year if it does not offer all-day kindergarten, because of an incentive from the state when it starts all-day kindergarten funding.

The Mandan School Board and Volesky explained this and other reasons for offering the program next year. A change to the school finance formula will let school districts use fall enrollment for student funding next year, which would count kindergartners as full time, if full-time programs are offered.

If Mandan offers a part-time program, it can only count them as half-time, losing out on the full amount of funding. Additionally, the district is worried it will lose kindergarten students to Bismarck Public Schools. The Bismarck School District will close enrollment April 1, 2008, after the March 1 deadline for open enrollment for the 2008-09 school year. If 10 students were to open enroll in Bismarck, the Mandan District could lose $432,250 over 13 years because open enrollment students tend to stay out of district.

The board has not made a decision about how it will offer all-day kindergarten, but it wants to offer it next year. part time, they can discuss it with the administration on an individual basis, but at this time, there are no plans to offer part-time programs.

The district posted its presentation on its Website at http://www.mandan.k12.nd.us.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)