After-school program closure will have consequences
When we moved to San Andreas from the Bay Area five years ago, we
did so in order to make a better life for our two boys. In Calaveras
County, we found a tight-knit community, a small and local school,
beautiful land on which our children could fish and hike and a wonderful
group of fellow families like our own. We put down roots and were proud
to tell everyone how excited we were to have found such a great
community that we would be able to stay in until our children graduated
from high school. One of our biggest priorities was being involved in
our s’s education and finding a great school in which they would
be able to spend their whole elementary school years.
We found that in San Andreas Elementary until the fateful day we learned the after-school program we desperately relied on would be closing. I am a fulltime registered nursing student, my husband is a retail store manager and in order to build our lives and make our family secure, we rely on the San Andreas Elementary after-school program to care for our children until we get home from either school or work. We are just like every other family who uses the program, working parents. Without Kid’s Place, there is no ability to work or to go to school, because our schedules do not permit being available at the times we need Kid’s Place the most – from the end of school until the end of the work day.
Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent
Mark Campbell is been quoted to have said that after-school care for our
kids is a luxury and that parents like us feel the program is an
entitlement. That has no bearing at all to any of our situations. Kid’s
Place is a necessity. It is a safe, educational and wonderful place we
know our kids will be well taken care of until we get done with our day.
It has been said by our superintendent that the Calaveras County School
District is broke and has no funds to keep Kid’s Place open.
My message to the school district is this: How much money is this district going to lose when we end up having to move our children to Amador County or other counties that realize working parents need after-school care? I know of several families already looking to move completely out of the county because of this. What are the ramifications of that lost revenue? What are the ramifications of 30 or so wonderful, talented kids moving to an entirely new school district? How much will Calaveras County lose out on when we are putting our tax dollars and expendable income into businesses in adjacent counties? It will take $34,000 of school district money to keep Kid’s Place open until the end of school year. Perhaps additional funding could be looked into at that point, but if this program does not get funded and does close its doors in December, those are 30 children and their families could be lost from this county forever, not to mention any incoming kindergarten families who may choose to not send their children to San Andreas Elementary because there is no after-school care.
Not funding this program is a fiscal mistake as well as a moral mistake. The children who will be affected are ones who could perhaps stay in this county for years to come, except now they will be settling in Amador, Tuolomne or the Mark Twain Union Elementary School District. Our family is looking at this option and we are not the only ones – all of us families are looking into moving school districts.
A few days ago, I picked my children up from Kid’s Place. They sat in a room with 17 other kids dutifully working on homework, spanning kindergarten through third grade. In several weeks, these children, most of them, will not be in the Calaveras Unified School District anymore because of this shortsighted decision. Surely there is emergency money somewhere to keep the program open for a few more months until another decision is made, because the loss of these wonderful kids is going to end up costing the school district and surrounding communities hundreds of thousands of dollars. This isn’t the loss of a “luxury.” This will impact our entire town and something needs to be done. We need to see action, not only words stating nothing can be done. It can be done. The after-school program could remain open, and it must, or everyone will realize how little the Calaveras Unified School District actually cares about our children.
Diana Py is the mother of two children who attend San Andreas Elementary School. Contact her at
© 2013 Calaveras Enterprise.
We found that in San Andreas Elementary until the fateful day we learned the after-school program we desperately relied on would be closing. I am a fulltime registered nursing student, my husband is a retail store manager and in order to build our lives and make our family secure, we rely on the San Andreas Elementary after-school program to care for our children until we get home from either school or work. We are just like every other family who uses the program, working parents. Without Kid’s Place, there is no ability to work or to go to school, because our schedules do not permit being available at the times we need Kid’s Place the most – from the end of school until the end of the work day.
My message to the school district is this: How much money is this district going to lose when we end up having to move our children to Amador County or other counties that realize working parents need after-school care? I know of several families already looking to move completely out of the county because of this. What are the ramifications of that lost revenue? What are the ramifications of 30 or so wonderful, talented kids moving to an entirely new school district? How much will Calaveras County lose out on when we are putting our tax dollars and expendable income into businesses in adjacent counties? It will take $34,000 of school district money to keep Kid’s Place open until the end of school year. Perhaps additional funding could be looked into at that point, but if this program does not get funded and does close its doors in December, those are 30 children and their families could be lost from this county forever, not to mention any incoming kindergarten families who may choose to not send their children to San Andreas Elementary because there is no after-school care.
Not funding this program is a fiscal mistake as well as a moral mistake. The children who will be affected are ones who could perhaps stay in this county for years to come, except now they will be settling in Amador, Tuolomne or the Mark Twain Union Elementary School District. Our family is looking at this option and we are not the only ones – all of us families are looking into moving school districts.
A few days ago, I picked my children up from Kid’s Place. They sat in a room with 17 other kids dutifully working on homework, spanning kindergarten through third grade. In several weeks, these children, most of them, will not be in the Calaveras Unified School District anymore because of this shortsighted decision. Surely there is emergency money somewhere to keep the program open for a few more months until another decision is made, because the loss of these wonderful kids is going to end up costing the school district and surrounding communities hundreds of thousands of dollars. This isn’t the loss of a “luxury.” This will impact our entire town and something needs to be done. We need to see action, not only words stating nothing can be done. It can be done. The after-school program could remain open, and it must, or everyone will realize how little the Calaveras Unified School District actually cares about our children.
Diana Py is the mother of two children who attend San Andreas Elementary School. Contact her at
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