EASTON – Local kindergartners will be spending more time at school next year to receive enrichment in math and reading because of a school board-approved lengthening in the kindergarten school day, according to Easton Superintendent Frank Keenan.

The Easton School Board recently approved phasing in a longer school day for local kindergartners that eventually will extend the pupils’ day by about 21/4 and include lunch and recess.

The school department’s goal, Keenan said Wednesday, is to do everything possible to make sure its pupils are reading and doing math at grade level by third grade.

“Our belief and the belief of many in the education field is that if you have them at that point, students have a real possibility of real success later on,” he said. “Research shows that students who are not at that point struggle and have a high instance of dropout rates.”

Easton began discussions about the longer day before Christmas, according to Jane Sincerbeaux, assistant principal at Easton Elementary School. Kindergarten teacher Tammy White will work with the pupils – the department expects 12 kindergartners for the 2004-2005 school year – in the morning. After lunch and recess, Mary Condon, who already works for the department, will work with the children on their reading and math skills.

“It just became apparent that we needed to do something more to help our students at a younger age. But because of our budget, it’s not something we could hire an additional teacher for,” Sincerbeaux said Wednesday. “We came up with a plan to use the existing staff and funding we have, but give students more classroom time.”

The department will start phasing in the longer days during the second week of classes. The pupils will start off with one or two extended days during the week and move to at least four longer days a week by the middle of the year.

The goal, Sincerbeaux said, is to get a regular schedule going that includes a full week of longer days. There are no firm plans at this point to extend kindergarten classes to a full day.

“We’re excited to be doing this,” Sincerbeaux said. “We feel it’s a positive move in the right direction.”

Before the school board meeting, the town held its district budget meeting. Residents passed the $2,973,528 budget for the 2004-2005 school year as presented. The budget reflects a 7.5 percent increase from last year and represents an increase of approximately $140,000 in local dollars, Keenan said.

In other news, the school board:

. Received news that the town’s Envirothon team placed second at the state competition behind Hampden Academy. The Envirothon is a competition centered on environmental issues. Team members included Steven Hopkins, J.R. Kierstead, Coleby Lamoreau, Tyler Clark and Brandon Carlow. They were coached by Dottie Dudley.

. Heard a request from Nathan White, Easton High School student council vice president, about implementing senior privileges. The student council requested the option for seniors in good standing, with a 90 percent average and who have study hall during the last period of the school day to have the option of early dismissal. There has not been an option for early dismissal at the high school for about 20 years. The board took the proposal under consideration and will discuss the matter as an agenda item at its July 13 meeting.