Sep 21, 2024
New York City public schools have received an additional $3 million to spend on afterschool programs — a boost that could finally provide some relief to southern Brooklyn families. The Daily News first reported that families were scrambling for childcare after the state overhauled its grant process for afterschool, leaving a handful of local programs from Bay Ridge to Sheepshead Bay without the funding that allowed them to operate free of charge. This week, the city’s Department of Education announced it would apply the new funding, allocated by Gov. Hochul, to programs in Brooklyn and the Bronx that previously got state funding but were shut out this year. But no one knows which programs will receive the grants, and top education officials would not say. “I don’t have anything more specific about how that $3 million will be allocated to programs in Brooklyn and the Bronx,” local schools Superintendent David Pretto told families at J.H.S. 259 William McKinley on Wednesday night. “I have strongly advocated to New York City public schools that the programs in District 20 that did lose the funding receive this funding.” It’s the latest solution state officials have proposed to solve an impending afterschool crisis in South Brooklyn. At the end of last month, the state’s Office of Children and Family Services shared plans to work with the neediest of parents to apply for childcare assistance. But a family of four with an income of $108,630 or higher was ineligible for the benefit. “We have received zero information about which programs are to be funded this year,” said State Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn), “zero information about how the additional $3 million will be disbursed, and zero information about whether our students will have their access to afterschool restored.” BrooklynKathy Willens/APPublic School 95 in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. (Kathy Willens/AP) The service cutbacks were proposed despite an overall increase of $17.7 million in afterschool funding. But some local programs were not awarded any grants through a consolidated program this school year known as Learning and Enrichment After-School Program Supports, or LEAPS. “In addition to increasing overall funding for afterschool seats this year, we’re ensuring that thousands of kids and families can continue utilizing the local afterschool programs they rely on,” said Sam Spokony, a Gov. Hochul spokesperson. That could include NIA Community Services Network and the Federation of Italian American Organizations — two neighborhood programs that served at least 1,300 students across about a dozen schools. Neither had officially been awarded the grants as of the end of the week, the organizations confirmed. “We are dedicated to ensuring that our youth and families have enriching afterschool programs, which is why we have worked to ensure there are nearly 213,000 slots this year,” said Chyann Tull, an education department spokesperson. “After changes made by New York State to the LEAPS program, we’re glad to have this additional investment, and we’ll be working with our partners to evaluate need over the course of the year to help ensure students and families get the programming they deserve.”
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