HARRISBURG - When Gov. Ed Rendell and state lawmakers created a block-grant program to improve public schools' math and reading test scores, Rendell considered it a vehicle for carrying out early childhood education initiatives that were the cornerstone of his 2002 election campaign.

According to preliminary figures from Rendell's office on how Pennsylvania's 501 school districts plan to spend the grants, more than half are in tune with one plank in his platform - a call for full-day kindergarten. About 290 districts have expressed an interest in starting or expanding such programs in the 2004-05 school year.

Two other Rendell proposals that eventually became part of the grant program - funding for preschool programs and class-size reduction for kindergarten through third grade - are less popular. About 100 districts are choosing reduced class sizes, while 40 are opting for preschool.

It's no surprise that so many have embraced full-day kindergarten, while relatively few have latched onto preschool, said Rendell's spokesperson, Kate Philips.

"Districts tend to work backward. From half a day of kindergarten, many have expanded to full-day. We believe that with further funding, pre-K will become as commonplace as we hope full-day programs will be," she said.

Also, she noted, the state has separately set aside $15 million to expand the federally funded Head Start program that provides preschool services for children from low-income families.

The Accountability Block Grant program, part of Rendell's $22.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, was the product of negotiations last year with the Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature. It gives districts a wide array of options, from hiring literacy and math coaches to recruiting better teachers for under-performing schools.

Schools may use their money for multiple options if they wish, or devise their own strategies with the Education Department's approval.

In the coming weeks, the state is expected to sign off on the grant applications.

At the same time, Rendell and legislative leaders will be negotiating whether to boost the $175 million commitment lawmakers made to the program in December. Rendell included an additional $75 million in his budget, but the GOP leaders have said at least some of that money should go toward other educational programs, such as aid to community colleges and state universities.

Among the districts choosing the full-day kindergarten option is the Franklin Regional School District in Westmoreland County, which is using its entire grant of more than $177,000 for that purpose.

The district currently offers half-day kindergarten to 240 students. It is keeping some half-day sessions next year in response to some parents' reservations about whether their children can handle a full day of school, said Gail Yamnitzky, an elementary school principal who serves as the district's interim elementary curriculum coordinator.

Yamnitzky expects the full-day program to enroll 60 youngsters, while 180 would attend the half-day program.

"We had a lot of parent interest in maintaining the (half-day) program, so rather than force a parent to change, our hope was to create an excellent full-day program that would sell itself," she said.

Other districts, such as Allentown, considered full-day kindergarten, but decided it wasn't feasible.

"We simply don't have the space to place the extra classes," said Wayne Trumbauer, a project manager who is overseeing Allentown's grant application.

Instead, the district decided to focus its more than $2.4 million grant on three other areas: literacy and math coaching, social and health services, and improving the test scores of students in certain subgroups, such as minorities and special education students.

"We had more ideas on the table than we had funding for," Trumbauer said.

Roughly 60 districts sought state approval for programs they have developed outside of the 10 program options. The education department has approved plans for about half of those districts and asked the rest to submit revised applications by June 24, spokesman Brian Christopher said.

The Central Bucks School District in suburban Philadelphia is among districts that have the state's blessing to go off the menu. Officials plan to expand a secondary-school program for regular students who struggle with reading and math to special education students who are marginally below grade level in those subjects, said Paul Beltz, supervisor of reading and federal programs.

"We really wanted to spend that money on the secondary level, but it didn't neatly fit into the other 10 categories," he said. "We felt that we had the primary grades covered."