DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Palm Beach County District 7 School Board Member Edwin Ferguson is raising concerns about the number of children starting kindergarten unprepared.
WATCH BELOW: 'It does seem to track along economic lines,' Edwin Ferguson tells WPTV
He brought up the issue during Tuesday’s Delray Beach Commission meeting, saying it’s time to focus on how to better prepare young learners before they enter school.
The presentation only contained data from four public schools within Ferguson’s district.
“The issue is what we can do to help encourage, foster and sustain a greater level of preparedness,” Ferguson said.
He told me students are entering school without vital knowledge.
“There is an assessment that’s done in the kindergarten year where you check to see things such as can a child hold a pen or pencil properly," Ferguson noted. "Do they recognize their name? Do they understand colors, can you count to 50 or 100.”
Ferguson said when students fail to meet those metrics, it slows their learning curve.
“Things they should be learning going into kindergarten, going into the first grade, they’re not able to learn that just yet,” he said.
He said the numbers highlight deeper issues, including what’s happening inside the home before children even reach the classroom.
“It does seem to track along economic lines, so in the more affluent areas of the county, you find that there’s a higher kindergarten readiness," Ferguson said. "And in areas where the household income is lower, you see a lower kindergarten score.”
Ferguson is urging families to take advantage of local programs that can help bridge the gap. Those include applying for Florida’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program and accessing the Birth to Pre-K Literacy Parent Resource Hub.
He also encourages parents to read aloud with their children, engage in conversations about books and connect reading to real-life experiences.
We contacted the Palm Beach County School District about the decline, a district spokesperson said they are working on providing that data.
You can read the full report here.
