LONDONDERRY — The majority of district parents surveyed last spring said they'd favor having full-day kindergarten in Londonderry but would rather not lengthen the school year or the hours in the school day.

During Tuesday night's School Board meeting, Superintendent Nathan Greenberg shared the results of a district-wide survey that took place in mid-June.

The survey of 1,286 parents posed questions regarding the length of the school day, school year and school calendar, leaving plenty of room for comments and suggestions.

School officials initially addressed the topic earlier this year, when School Board members unanimously agreed that this year's current school calendar would remain similar to last year's, but other options are worth considering for the 2013-2014 school year.

Surveyed parents were asked whether they are in favor of having full-day kindergarten or a longer school day for older students.

They were also asked if they'd favor a longer school year, and those in favor of an all-day kindergarten program were asked if they'd be willing to increase the district's budget in order to do so.

The option of combining February and April vacations was also be addressed, along with the option of eliminating having the day before Thanksgiving off.

Greenberg said the question regarding an all-day kindergarten drew the highest number of responses.

Of the 1,286 parents who responded to the survey question, 768 of them, or 60 percent, said they'd be in favor of having full-day kindergarten in Londonderry and 931 said they would be willing to increase the district budget to so.

Currently, the district offers a half-day kindergarten program, with some children attending a morning program and some attending an afternoon program at Moose Hill School.

Parents were more divided in their opinions on a longer school day or longer school year.

Of the 1,276 who responded to the survey question on whether they'd prefer the school day extended, 597 said they'd favor a longer school day, while 679 said they'd rather leave the school day as is.

Of the 1,275 who responded to the survey question on whether the school year should be longer, 290 said “yes,” while 985 said “no.”

Asked whether the district should combine February and April vacations, 62 percent of surveyed parents said “yes.”

Among the options presented for combining vacations were replacing one of the vacations with a long weekend in either February or April.

Eliminating the day before Thanksgiving as a day off was favored by 554 of the 1,224 responders, but rejected by 670.

Greenberg noted that many of the parents offered written comments to accompany their survey responses.

“A major theme running through the comments referenced a 'fracturing of the school year,'” he said, adding that the surveyed parents, in general, held strong views regarding the questions.

The parents in favor of a longer year or longer school day generally felt it was important for students to be competitive, while others argued that students need down time to relax, and a longer day might be too exhausting for younger students.

Having full-day kindergarten in Londonderry would prove costly, Greenberg said, as the additional staffing costs alone would be approximately $690,149. That's not including art, music and physical education staff for a total of 14 classrooms.

Facilities issues would also need to be addressed, Greenberg said.

The survey results will be discussed further during the next School Board meeting on Oct. 23.

Greenberg urged the board to use the time between meetings to pore over the survey results to ready themselves for an in-depth discussion on what the district's next steps might be.

aguilmet@newstote.com