Early education advocates in Blair County support Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to lower the compulsory starting age of school attendance from 8 years old to 6.

The law change is packaged with the governor’s budget proposal, which will go through further revision by state Legislature until the scheduled vote in June.

While attending school long before age 8 doesn’t seem to be a problem locally, Wolf has said the change would bring Pennsylvania in line with practices in other states. If adopted, the change would increase school enrollment statewide by more than 3,300 students ages 6 and 7 statewide.

In addition, Wolf is calling for a study on introducing universal full-day kindergarten in Pennsylvania. That would entail an additional action to lower the compulsory school age to age 5.

The study would examine such issues as classroom availability and staffing needs. It’s estimated there are 49,000 5-year-olds not currently enrolled in school in Pennsylvania. Once a study is done, the Wolf administration would work with lawmakers to find the funding to provide full-day kindergarten, said Depart­ment of Education Secre­tary Pedro Rivera, according to a Capitolwire report.

Spring Cove School Dis­trict has implemented full-day kindergarten since ap­proximately 2005, Su­perin­tendent Betsy Baker said.

“Our students’ achievement — particularly their literacy development and mathematical skills — improved significantly when we made the shift,” Baker stated in an email. “The heightened student achievement impacted the curricula beyond kindergarten, so it would be difficult to return to half-day sessions … A child’s early years are the foundation for their educational development. Lowering the compulsory school age to 5 helps ensure that all children have access to high-quality early childhood education.”

The Cambria Heights School District in Cambria County doesn’t have an issue with getting students into school at an early age.

Like many districts in the area, it already offers full-day kindergarten, Superin­tendent Michael Strasser said.

“I would guess that nearly 100 percent of our students enroll by the age of 6. As a matter of fact, we tend to see more of a problem in the reverse,” Strasser said. “Annually, we have several cases where parents want to enroll their child in kindergarten before the age of 5.”

Strasser supports Wolf’s plan and noted Pre-K funding, which Wolf also proposes to increase.

“We are able to offer Pre-K for 17 4-year-olds per year through a state grant called Pre-K Counts. And we turn kids away every year because we only have 17 seats,” Strasser said. “Re­search has proven the success of early childhood education. The earlier we can get kids into a quality program, the more successful they will be.”

The business members of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce don’t always agree with Wolf, but early education is a priority that will eventually provide an educated workforce, said Joe Hurd, Blair County Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.

“I think as a business organization, we have plenty of reasons to take issue with many things Wolf has proposed,” Hurd said. “But his willingness to really stand up strong for early childhood education is one that we give him a lot of credit for and we are pleased he made that a priority for his administration.”

The chamber has a subcommittee on early education that includes educators. Hurd said the county can do better in providing early education to children from birth to age 5.

“I think Wolf’s proposal is a good move,” Hurd said. “It will force more attention to be focused on early childhood in general. If we can make significant inroads in getting more of these young people quality early education, it makes a big difference later.”

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O’Reilly is at 946-7435.