[afterschool] Celebrate 170 new seats + our plan to request a 3-yr plan for full afterschool
DHSP's new expansion plan + our next advocacy steps.
Dear families,
Welcome to all the new supporters on this list. After removing duplicates, our petition is up to 481 signers! (See comments here.)
So where do things stand?
First, DHSP has shared a plan to add 170 afterschool seats for Fall 2023:
🎉 On 2/28, DHSP presented this plan to City Council for Fall 2023 (see slide 14, screenshot above):
Morse + Cambridgeport — 40 new Community Schools spots each (80 total).
King Open Extended Day — 30 new KOED spots, open only to King Open students — (Note that this plan also converts the 60 current KO Community School spots into KOED.)
Youth Centers — 60 new spots, across all 4 sites.
📍New spots are concentrated at only 3 schools: While this is great news, all sites need expansion. In fact, Mayor Siddiqui questioned why more sites couldn’t be added (meeting, at ~1:31). Also note that, in August, DHSP had proposed expansions at G&P, Peabody, MLK, as well as Morse - see slide 7.
🚌 DHSP said it was not their responsibility to transport every child to their afterschool location (meeting at ~1:02). But if afterschool spots are more concentrated next school year, it seems likely to increase demand for transport.
👐 DHSP didn't address serious special education access issues that many parents raised in public comment (meeting ~13-20).
While this plan represents a big win, it’s not all we hoped for.
Next steps
We’re currently working to finalize a policy order to expand afterschool fully in 3 years + address the issues raised above (locations, transport, special ed).
👏 The policy order sponsors are Councilor Burhan Azeem, Councilor & former Mayor Marc McGovern, and Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui.
Where you come in (soon!)
Cambridge leaders need to know that residents support this measure. Each additional voice really matters. We’ll ask you to (1) send in emails and (2) make public comment on an upcoming Monday night (likely Monday, 4/3).
If you've already sent in an email (ex: in December, when we organized around the City budget process), feel free to reuse it word-for-word. For all who are new to this, we promise to give lots of guidance.
That's a lot to absorb. Please email us with comments, questions, concerns.
We expect to get back to you next week with more on the After School Policy Order.
Eugenia & Amanda
(Baldwin/YMCA & Amigos/Amigos Community School)
Even more info:
👏 Thanks to Mayor Siddiqui, Superintendent Greer + School Committee for committing to strong afterschool support from CPS:
On 3/7, Superintendent Greer stated that “anytime DHSP has requested [school] space, they’ve been given that space” and “we will continue to be good partners to DHSP” (meeting, ~3:40).
The Committee also passed a motion requesting CPS to support DHSP afterschool expansion with “additional space” and by “considering creative staffing models” (sponsors: Sumbul Siddiqui, Rachel Weinstein + Ayesha Wilson, page 16).
Our work/thinking on 2 key issues that have come up lately —
Serving lower-income families — Thanks in part to the advocacy of people on this list, DHSP has been fully prioritizing low-income families in the afterschool lottery since this Fall. Before, they only reserved 30% of seats for low-income students (page 5), something we spoke out about.
DHSP staff salaries — Again, thanks in part to the advocacy of people on this list (especially Lynn Li, whose research showed staff seemed underpaid), DHSP raised wages and salaries for its afterschool workers in August (see slides 9-10). One model we and the City Manager have been advocating for is hiring more full time staff with benefits who work year-round for the City. This improves retention/reduces turnover and creates a more stable environment for our kids.
Do you like this new official look? We’re experimenting to be a little more user-friendly.
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