P.C. afterschool program price drops vastly to $10 per month
July 11, 2024 at 12:08 a.m.
After families felt sticker shock, and vocalized their dismay, the need for accessible afterschool programming at Port Chester Schools became a hot topic playing a part in shaping the last school year.
But that situation is not anticipated to be a problem this fall.
“While offering this is certainly in line with our goal of bolstering opportunities and support for all students, it also is our way of responding to a need in the community. And that’s an important part of this,” Superintendent Dr. Aurelia Henriquez said during a phone interview on Tuesday, July 9. “The district was relentless in the pursuit of grant opportunities that would help this come to fruition.”
For the first time in many years, the district says, an afterschool program at all four elementary schools will be offered starting on the first day of the 2024-25 school year. Facilitated by the Carver Center, as it was last year, it will run every day classes are fully in session until 5:30 p.m. at each building’s campus.
The cost for families will be $10 a month per child—a substantial price reduction compared to the 2023-24 school year, which saw a program charging $300 a student every month.
Concern over afterschool costs is not unfamiliar territory in the community. The Port Chester School District has tangoed with equity and accessibility regarding the program for many years.
With a fluctuating history, afterschool program pricing was a point of contention last year, however, because families felt blindsided when costs were determined just a few weeks before classes began. Tension started early in Summer 2023 as families started to complain that no plans for a program had been announced, and the $300 price tag that was ultimately attached was an unexpected calculation that many families couldn’t budget for.
It felt particularly shocking because in the two years prior, the district was able to offer a $2 million afterschool program for free due to a temporary installment of COVID-19 relief grants. But when that funding dried up, they were forced to return to a transactional system.
What resulted was an 80% decline in participation.
“While offering this is certainly in line with our goal of bolstering opportunities and support for all students, it also is our way of responding to a need in the community. And that’s an important part of this.”
—Port Chester Superintendent Dr. Aurelia Henriquez
Prior to COVID-19, when afterschool prices drastically varied depending on the elementary school, the buildings saw at least 100 students enrolled in a program—at John F. Kennedy, the most populated building, it was close to 200. When a free option was offered, a few dozen more in each facility signed up.
The 2023-24 year saw a significant drop off, with between 30-50 students taking advantage of the option per building.
Throughout the year, the butting of two realities kept creeping into conversation: Port Chester is a low-income, working-class community. Children would benefit from afterschool enrichment because it helps keep them competitive with their peers in affluent parts of the region, and their parents would have more flexible work opportunities knowing the students have a safe place to go. However, many families just couldn’t afford the cost.
The conversation sparked debate with the Port Chester Board of Education, particularly during budget season, when afterschool financing proved to be one of the most contentious factors while drafting the spending plan. Two trustees, George Ford and Chrissie Onofrio, on the five-member board were adamantly against earmarking $100,000 of the $147.5 million proposal to offset family burden. It was ultimately a matter of philosophy, as most school districts do not use taxpayer dollars for expansive programming after the school day.
However, the measure passed with the budget, and it’s one of the reasons—albeit a small one—the district could reduce costs in the upcoming year.
“We did earmark $100,000 for the purpose of allocating towards an afterschool program, but this is a multi-million-dollar program,” Henriquez said. “I just want to be very clear about that.”
Largely, prices are dropping significantly due to the attainment of grant funding. To the school district’s end, Henriquez greatly credited Deputy Superintendent Dr. Colleen Carroll.
In February, Port Chester Schools was awarded a $2.4 million Learning Loss Recover from COVID School Program Grant, or RECOVS, from the state.
“Because of complicated requirements, deadlines and other forms of ‘red tape’ that are associated with being awarded grants, we were not able to make an official announcement of what we could propose to the community any sooner,” Henriquez said. “While we knew that we were going to be the recipients of RECOVS, how that would shake out was murky. It took a lot of work through Dr. Carroll to make it clear; many meetings and conversations about how we could impact families.”
The Carver Center was also able to secure a LEAPS (Learning and Enrichment After-School Program Supports) grant from the state Office of Children and Family Services. And the district has wiggle room with Title 1 funding that can be used for specific buildings with high numbers of low-income families.
“Because we have pools of different funding, we were able to pull from these different areas. And all those monies combined allowed us to create this program for all buildings,” Carroll said. “All students will have access to this, but there will be a cap.”
Administrators explained there will be different enrollment caps devised for each building, based on afterschool enrollment trends seen over the last few years. Pre-registration forms have already been distributed to families. If more students sign up than there is room for, a lottery will take place over the summer.
The Carver Center has had a longstanding relationship with the Port Chester School District as facilitators of the afterschool program. Therefore, Carroll said in many ways the initiative will look familiar, but there will be enhancements.
Due to stipulations of the grants, next year’s program will have more of an academic focus than prior iterations have had.
“There will be an academic component—literacy and math support, homework help, social-emotional learning, enrichment. But it will also have down time for physical activities, outdoor time, and of course they’ll be serving the snupper meal that everyone loves,” Carroll said. “But there will be augmentations. We have to bring a lot more of an academic focus in, so while the foundation is the same, the opportunities, projects and activities will be very enhanced.”
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