MARQUETTE -- Kindergarten students are all the talk for Marquette Area Public Schools.

Since Michigan is mandating that kindergarteners go to school all day every day, U.P. schools need extra space for their students, so MAPS decided to do some shifting with their elementary schools.

"We essentially need to double the amount of kindergarten classrooms that we have within the district. All of our buildings can accomplish that with a little creativity. So we're looking to accomplish that by taking fourth grade out of Superior Hills and into Bothwell Middle School and to make room for that fourth grade by keeping fifth grade at Cherry Creek. Cherry Creek will be a K-5, Superior Hills would be a K-3, and Sandy Knoll would be a K-4 building," said School Board President, Scott Brogan.

They also considered other options, such as moving students to Vandenboom Elementary School or adding portables to Superior Hills. But some board members thought they made the decision too quickly and should have consulted parents.

"I would like to wait out of courtesy for the parents. If you had a fourth grader that was moving, you would want to at least be able to understand that, and I'm not saying that decision would be any different, but I think it's how you communicate with your public, with your customers. Instead of saying, 'We're just going to change this, and your input really doesn't matter,' because I think it does matter," said School Board member Rich Rossway.

So far, MAPS has 230 kindergarteners signed up for this upcoming school year, and their goal is to have over 250.

With the all-day kindergarten changes, they will be hiring at least five new staff members.