California also has (had) December 31 cut off. Every state has a different cut off law and with the transient military population in and out of here you might have a kid young for a grade here but not young in another state.

Anonymous wrote:In New York City kids can start Kindergarten at 4 if their birthday is before Dec 31st.
MY DD kid is 14 and a sophomore. .

So, she's set to go away to college at 17? Did you think about that at the time?

In New York City kids can start Kindergarten at 4 if their birthday is before Dec 31st.
MY DD kid is 14 and a sophomore. .

Anonymous wrote:I know redshirting is controversial and some districts have made it illegal. Is it even an option in FCPS? I have a kid with significant developmental delays who will qualify for an IEP. He’s doing okay in a private preschool right now, but he is in a class with kids a year younger. We are debating whether to start him in kindergarten on time or hold him back a year, but I don’t know if redshirting is even an option. Anyone know the current policy?

Yes, it's absolutely an option. We did it and never looked back. An extra year was exactly what our DC needed.

The answer is yes, geez. Send him to kindergarten at 6.

Virginia state law allows redshirting. If your child is 5 by Sept 30, you do not need to enroll them in kindergarten, but can put them in preschool or other alternative program. See the text below.

Except as otherwise provided in this article, every parent, guardian, or other person in the Commonwealth having control or charge of any child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday shall, during the period of each year the public schools are in session and for the same number of days and hours per day as the public schools, cause such child to attend a public school or a private, denominational, or parochial school or have such child taught by a tutor or teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board and approved by the division superintendent, or provide for home instruction of such child as described in § 22.1-254.1.

As prescribed in the regulations of the Board, the requirements of this section may also be satisfied by causing a child to attend an alternative program of study or work/study offered by a public, private, denominational, or parochial school or by a public or private degree-granting institution of higher education. Further, in the case of any five-year-old child who is subject to the provisions of this subsection, the requirements of this section may be alternatively satisfied by causing the child to attend any public educational pre-kindergarten program, including a Head Start program, or in a private, denominational, or parochial educational pre-kindergarten program.