Votes against early kindergarten signal shift for Helena schools

In the past, Helena’s school board has typically honored staff recommendations to let certain children start kindergarten early.

This changed in June, when the school board denied recommendations to grant early admission to two children with birthdays after the Sept. 10 cutoff, even though evaluations by school staff found that both prospective students were at the same level as those who met the age cutoff.

School psychiatrist Erika McMillin could not think of another time that the school board has denied early admission for a child who was recommended for approval by the team.