This fall, Sippican School parents can send their children to full-day kindergarten classes without having to pay tuition.

The Marion School Committee narrowly approved the motion that brought the change after weighing the program’s benefits against financial uncertainty. The decision is not final, does not alter the curriculum and will be reviewed in November.

Currently, it costs $2,400 a year for parents to have a child attend full-day kindergarten classes. Half-day students attend at no cost.

The decision shifts funding the program from parents to the town. The Finance Committee had asked School Committee members to study the matter for another year to determine how full-day kindergarten will affect the municipal budget.

“It’s a major change for the town and they asked us to treat academic year 2013-2014 as a transition year. We will provide as much support to families as possible and decide what is the best option to fully fund going into the following year,” said Christine Winters.

There are 33 kindergarten students attending in the fall - the lowest incoming class in years. Winters said the Finance Committee was concerned about future increases to class size, which would affect the town’s budget. Full-day kindergarten was proposed after the town's budget had been drafted.

Winters, along with committee member Jay Pateakos, voted against the measure, saying they wanted to give the Finance Committee time for review.

Committee member Michelle Ouellette said students shouldn’t have to wait for the benefits of attending full-day kindergarten classes.

Ouellette, a kindergarten teacher outside of Marion, said statistics show children in half-day classes don’t perform well academically.

“Clearly, those children are working at a different pace and are not exposed to the same social and emotional development…They are really missing out,” Ouellette said.

Committee member Joseph Scott recommended offering the full-day program. He tempered the proposal with a promise to review finances in November.

Scott said Sippican School could revert to a half-day program if the cost of full-day was too much.

Mattapoisett and Rochester both offer full-day kindergarten programs.