A second reading of recommendations for the kindergarten enrollment process did not pass at Monday evening's school board meeting.

Chairman Shannon Jackett and board attorney Kathleen Dixon said it was unclear what the board can do next.

"The future of this decision, at this point, is uncertain," Dixon said.

Trustee Elizabeth Horsch proposed an amendment to the recommendations that would honor a 17-year agreement the board made with Woods Learning Center to give children of staff members enrollment preference.

Recommendations from an Interest-Based Agreement Process group did not include preference for children of staff members.

The group decided instead to study what effects not allowing preference will have on this year's process. An October meeting has already been set to further discuss the issue for enrollment next spring.

What the decision means for the current enrollment cycle remains unclear. Parents began prioritizing schools for kindergarten enrollment earlier this month and were to be notified in February of where their children would attend kindergarten in the fall.

Trustees Steve Degenfelder and Suzanne Sandoval and Jackett all voted against Horsch's proposed amendment, but for the recommendations as made by the IBAP committee. Trustees Tom Jones and Horsch voted for the amendment, but against the recommendations.

A majority vote was needed to pass the recommendation, which requires five of the nine board members to be either in favor or against the resolution. Only five board members were present at Monday's meeting.

At the time of IBAP meetings, Horsch said she felt persuaded the recommendation should go forward. But Woods staff members expressed concern that their previous agreement with the board would no longer be honored, Horsch said.

"The Woods people are quite angry," Horsch said. "They feel their agreement has been violated."

Two staff members from Woods were part of the IBAP group making the proposals, which spent four days working to come up with recommendations that were acceptable to all of the IBAP members.

Board members then expressed concern about honoring all agreements made with schools.

"Woods is not the only one this promise was made to," Jackett said. "It was made to almost every other school."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.