[afterschool] Tell City Council to vote for the 3-year plan for full afterschool | This Mon, 4/3, 5:30p —
Yay! The afterschool policy order is being filed by Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, former Mayor/current councilor Marc McGovern & Councilor Burhan Azeem
This is it, everybody!
The afterschool policy order is being filed as I type. Our job is to show city leaders how much support is behind this, so that it becomes reality.
What’s in the policy order? (See full text here.)
If the 9 member City Council votes for this on Monday, it will direct City Manager Yi-An Huang and DHSP to:
🎉 Develop a three-year plan to provide afterschool spots for every child who requests one,
📍 Expand spots at all schools (not just KO, C-port, & Morse),
🚌 Ensure transport to afterschool for every child (even if CPS doesn’t automatically bus the child),
👀 Create an online dashboard displaying waitlist information by school and grade, and
👐 Present a report on special education needs, and a plan to address them as part of the larger plan.
For context, this order responds to DHSP’s new 170-seat expansion plan, which we summarized last week.
How do I support this policy order?
Two ways. Both really help.
💌 First, emails.
Write an email explaining why afterschool matters to you.
Time: Do it right now! Or anytime before this Monday evening (by the time of the vote).
To line: CityCouncil@CambridgeMA.GOV, clerk@cambridgema.gov
CC line: schraa@gmail.com, amanda.beatty@gmail.com
Subject line: Supporting afterschool policy order
Tell your story and urge City Council to vote for the order. Short is fine.
If you already sent an email into City Council (ex: in December when we wrote in for the budget meeting), you can reuse that email and we promise no one will notice.
🗯️ Second, public comment on Monday night (4/3, online starting at 5:30pm).
Do-ability level: This is much less scary than it sounds. But it can be a bit annoying.
Sign-up link coming: We will share the link so you can sign up when public comment opens (tomorrow, Friday morning).
Talking time: You’ll have 2-3 minutes to say why afterschool matters to you. Public comment generally starts close to 5:30pm.
Value (high): These stories and comments really help city leaders & staff at all levels feel that making change is important. So, despite the extra burden, it’s worth it to make public comment if you feel up to it. (No judgment, though.)
Also, you’ll feel so great after you did it. Like you’re a real grownup.
💪 If you’re going to do anything for afterschool, this is the time! This policy order is our best opportunity to influence afterschool policy. Let’s make the most of it.
Recap:
You can write your email right now. Or anytime before Monday night.
You’ll also hear from us tomorrow (Friday) about signing up to speak for 3 minutes (or less) on Monday.
We’ll send a final reminder Monday morning.
Thank you to everyone! As always, send comments, questions, concerns our way.
Eugenia Schraa & Amanda Beatty
(Baldwin K/YMCA & Amigos G2/Amigos Community School)
PS: Did you see that the Harvard Crimson covered afterschool issues last week? Cambridge City Councilors Developing Proposal for Expanded After-School Program
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