If Lawrence school district administrators can’t bring back all-day kindergarten anytime soon, Michelle Kueser plans to keep picking up the slack.

Kueser, director of Princeton Children’s Center, is bracing for the center to add room for 56 school-age children – including kindergartners – for fall, filling in gaps for parents whose children need somewhere educational to go in the mornings or afternoons and during school breaks.

“We’ve been here a year and we’re at capacity,” said Kueser, whose center has been limited to 14 kindergartners. “We’ve had so many calls. I know that the program is needed in Lawrence.”

The addition of two large classrooms is part of a $382,000 expansion project at the center, which opened last year with room for 81 students ranging in age from six months to 12 years.

Randy Weseman, superintendent of Lawrence public schools, said he appreciated the support that such operations provide. The district has been unable to maintain all-day kindergarten programs – a service that would cost the district more than $1 million a year to run – because of budget constraints.

Now that the Kansas Supreme Court has ordered state lawmakers to make more money available for public schools, the Lawrence district expects to receive another $4 million or $5 million for the coming school year.

The Princeton Children's Center, 3340 Peterson Road, is adding two large classrooms for 56 school-age children. The 6,000-square-foot project is expected to be completed by Aug. 1, said Tracy Green, president of B.A. Green Construction Co.

It’s too late to resume all-day kindergarten in August, Weseman said, but such offerings likely will be on his programming priority list for 2006-07.

“It’s academically solid for kids; the research on it says these kids are going to benefit,” Weseman said. “And it provides a valuable service for the parents of our community. We’re not a day care facility, but it’s not like I don’t understand. I raised kids, too.”

Several other businesses and programs in Lawrence also provide half-day kindergarten, shuttling children between public schools and their fill-in-the-gaps centers.

“I’m glad those are available, for parents’ sake,” Weseman said. “Many parents don’t have schedules that allow them to be home in the morning or in the afternoon.”

If the district ultimately does come through with an all-day kindergarten program, Kueser said, it won’t spell the end of such offerings at Princeton Children’s Center.

“If that’s the case, we may go to a private kindergarten, with our own teachers,” she said.

The center is owned by investors in Cheer Pole Ltd., which owns the Art Executive Office Park where the center is located.