RANDALL — The Randall School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to work toward starting a 4-year-old kindergarten program next fall.

“We’ve debated it back and forth for a couple of years now,” Administrator Steve Bloom said, adding a smaller projected incoming kindergarten next fall would open a classroom for such use.

Board member Gary Franzen said research shows students who participate in 4K enter kindergarten with increased readiness.

“It does bring children better opportunities to succeed in school,” Franzen said.

Board member Renee Gresenz made the motion to move forward with development of the program.

“I also believe children should be in sooner,” Gresenz said, adding it is crucial to identify student needs as early as possible.

Bloom said he will work to determine the potential number of students and will communicate with the neighboring pre-school program administrators to identify possible partnership opportunities.

“We are optimistic we can cover the programs with the staff we have,” Bloom said.

The rural school is surrounded by districts that offer 4K programs in Wheatland, Randall and Silver Lake. While no parents are actively requesting a program, Bloom said he believes there is interest in the community.

It is also possible the district could be losing children to other districts that have such programs. Parents cannot choose a 4K program elsewhere through open enrollment because Randall does not have a comparable program. However, they can pay to enroll their child into a 4K program and then open enroll in that district in subsequent years.