3 Takeaways from DHSP's Recent Afterschool Lottery Data
And a disappointing swimming pool update from DHSP.
Scroll to the bottom for what DHSP’s said about more swimming pool days.
First, afterschool stats!
👏 Thank you to City Manager Huang and team for releasing the most comprehensive and helpful set of lottery data yet. (Historic data here; most recent stats here.)
Our 3 take-aways:
[1.] 😬 With 330+ applicants in the waiting pool, it’s clear that DHSP’s top priority should be to expand its capacity (pg. 2).
Note that DHSP added just 38 seats this academic year. That’s better than nothing, but it’s also not great.
We understand from DHSP’s June City Council testimony that the new seats were added at Peabody. Graham & Parks community school remains the most oversubscribed program, followed by Peabody Childcare Afterschool (pg. 4).
Also, for the first time, DHSP did not accept 4-year-olds to its afterschool programs, leaving a whole new set of families without access to aftercare. (This is due to the new Cambridge Preschool Program.)
The loss for 4yo’s was a gain for Kindergarteners — not accepting 4yo’s freed up spots for more kindergarteners, as compared to other age brackets.
[2.] 🧐 Of the waitlisted kids, only ~60 are “priority” (ie: from low-income families, pg. 10) — Why not just let them in?
It’s great that 87% of priority children got an offer (pg. 5). But why not make it 100%? (See pp. 1 & 6 where the City acknowledges it should improve here.)
To make sure almost all “priority” kids get seated, DHSP would only need to slightly relax the priority they give to re-enrollees: just ~60 priority kids across ~20 centers.
This fix would mean incumbents would no longer be guaranteed spots, but DHSP could still allow them a much higher likelihood of getting placed than others. (A new lottery every year guaranteeing spots only to priority families would also be fair, in our opinion, but this seems to be a non-starter with DHSP.)
Note: “priority” means the family makes 65% or less of Area Median Income (pg. 10) — something that is not made clear as you apply. Many families that are “priority” likely don’t know they have that advantage.
[3.] 👏 For the first time, this data shows kids’ chances of acceptance by incumbency status (pp. 6-7). A huge help for parents deciding where to apply.
Over 60% of kids at all but one afterschool returned — ~80% for MLK Community, Amigos, and King Open Extended Day. Meaning that new entrants have a big disadvantage.
Non-incumbents’ chances of getting in vary considerably by age cohort, as well as by location (see pp. 14-15).
And a bonus takeaway!
[4.] 👎 DHSP still hiding a pricing disparity — SIBLING DISCOUNT
The “childcare afterschool” and King Open Extended Day programs both offer a 50% sibling discount, but not the Community Schools or Youth Centers.
We’ve been strongly encouraging DHSP to make this discrepancy clear. But so far, no movement (see pricing guideline).
While we do think it would be best to have price parity, we’re not arguing for extending the sibling discount (because we don’t know what trade-offs are involved). But we feel strongly that DHSP should be transparent about costs that affect families’ choices.
Do you read the data differently? Did we miss anything important?
Please let us know by replying to this email.
🏖️🏖️🏖️ The Disappointing Swimming Pools update
Thanks to the many of you who helped us advocate for Gold Star Pool (the only City-owned outdoor pool) to be open earlier in June and closed later in September. In August, DHSP said that they would try.
Sadly, on Monday 9/9, the City Manager shared a note from the Head of DHSP saying that they were unable to keep Gold Star open beyond Labor Day weekend. (See pp. 78-79.)
This isn’t particularly surprising given DHSP’s lackluster record on hiring for their programing, but it’s still a bummer.
What’s next: As a community, we need to put pressure on the City to work on a plan to open the pools earlier in June 2025, since we know the days will be hot by then. Just weekends in June would be a huge help to many families. We’ll get back to you with more about that in late Winter/early Spring.
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