From Great Local Paper-Calaveras Enterprise:Tensions high over Kid's Place Closure By Gray George

Tensions high over Kid's Place Closure

By Gray George | Posted: Friday, November 22, 2013 6:00 am
Parents, teachers, administrators and Calaveras Unified School District board members packed the Jenny Lind Elementary School library Tuesday night to discuss a wide range of issues. One of the most hotly debated, was the fate of Kid’s Place, an after-school program at San Andreas Elementary School that is on track to shut down next month after 17 years in operation.
“The program is scheduled to close Dec. 20 due to a lack of grant funding,” said CUSD board President Karan Bowsher.
Besides giving students academic support and a chance to participate in supervised activities, Kid’s Place also provides after-school care for working parents throughout Calaveras County. However, with money tight and few after-school child care options available, many parents said they will be adversely impacted by the closure of Kid’s Place.
“This is a huge deal to us,” said Diana Py, a mother who spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting. “We need funding to keep the program open through the end of the year when more funding will become available.”
Py, who is studying to become a registered nurse and her husband, who works full-time as a store manager, rely on Kid’s Place to watch their two young sons until they get back from work or school. Py told CUSD board members that there are no other child care options available in San Andreas and that a community solution to the issue is needed
“I propose we work together to find a solution,” she said.
Other parents bolstered Py’s points.
“It has become very difficult for parents along the Highway 49 corridor,” said parent Denise Cloward. “There’s no daycare and no other place to send our children.”
Cloward emphasized that, without viable options for childcare, she’d be forced to leave the area.
“If there’s no program, I’m pulling my kids and moving to Amador,” she said.
While parents faulted the school district for failing to obtain grant funding to keep the after-school program open, Titia Ashby, director of fiscal services for CUSD, pointed out that the closure of Kid’s Place was out of the district’s control.
“We’re part of a consortium that applied for the 21st Century grant,” Ashby said. “The consortium, as a whole, applied to the federal government and was denied, so it’s all the schools in our consortium that lost out on funding.”
Ashby went on to say that the 21st Century grant, which has subsidized Kid’s Place in the past, was designed for “after-school intervention,” not child care.
“Grants are not issued for after-school care, but to enhance the learning experience,” she said.
Because grant funding is no longer available to pay for Kid’s Place, board members and area residents proposed solutions to the child care issue.
“The Resource Connection has more room for people to apply (for services),” said CUSD board member Zerrall McDaniel.
District 1 Supervisor Cliff Edson, whose daughter participated in Kid’s Place, indicated that the entire community must rally together on this issue.
“The grants will be drying up,” Edson said, adding that schools, parents and private entities must work together to find a solution.
“You’re right on track there,” said CUSD board member Gregory Gustafson in response to Edson’s comments.
While everyone agrees that Kid’s Place is a valuable program, the school district was quick to point out that its hands are tied when it comes to keeping the program open.
“The total cost to keep the program open at current staffing levels through June 12, 2014, is $30,825,” Ashby said, indicating the school district doesn’t have those resources at its disposal.
As things stand now, 22 students will be without after-school care when Kid’s Place is shuttered next month. In the meantime, parents are unsure of what the future holds with regard to their child care needs.
David Emigh, whose son participates in Kid’s Place, is pessimistic about what will happen once Kid’s Place is closed.
“We’re trying to make sure parents know that without these (after-school) programs, we won’t have what we need,” he said. “Without these programs, San Andreas will be a wasteland.”