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CC - Item 9A - Parks and Recreation and Rosemead School District After-School Extended Care Program CoordinationROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM: JEFFRY ALLRED, CITY MANAGER DATE: OCTOBER 13, 2009 SUBJECT: PARKS AND RECREATION AND ROSEMEAD SCHOOL DISTRICT AFTER-SCHOOLAND EXTENDED CARE PROGRAM COORDINATION SUMMARY As indicated during the regular City Council meeting on September 8, the Rosemead School District was noted in August of a loss of latchkey funding used to operate its Safe Care program. As a result, the district and the City of Rosemead have been exploring coordinated'efforts'.to continue provision of after-school and all day care for local students. Staff Recommendation In response to the request of the Rosemead School District, the Parks and Recreation Department is willing and able to enhance child care programming by: a) Providing a fee-based "day camp" service for students during school vacation periods (i.e., summer, thanksgiving, winter, and spring breaks), and b) Coordinating existing school-based drop-in recreation programs with school district-sponsored after school programs. Staff is therefore seeking City Council direction regarding these proposed programs to be offered in coordination with the Rosemead School District. ANALYSIS The present state of the economy has impacted individuals and agencies alike. The City has been informed of changes in funding and state take-aways that could amount to more than $2 million. Earlier this year, the Woodcraft Rangers were notified that they were not re-funded through the 21'' Century Community Learning Center grant program. This resulted in reductions of 25% in site capacities. In August, the Rosemead School District received notice from the state that their annual latchkey fypoing would be discontinued at the end of August 2009. Since receiving the notice, the Rosemead School District has been exploring ways to provide needed care to displaced students. They have evaluated program costs and ITEM NO. City Council Meeting October 13, 2009 Page 3 of 7 the end of October and Is seeking alternative ways to meet the childcare needs of participants being displaced from the program. Proposition 49 (After School Education and Safety/ASES) In 2002, California voters passed Proposition 49 to increase the state's investment in after school programming. School districts, county offices of education, cities or counties, and non-profit agencies partnering with a school district or county office of education are eligible for ASES funds. Grants are awarded at $7.50 per child per day for after school for 180 days of the school year (up to $112,500 for elementary schools and $150,000 for middle schools). Before school care and other supplemental funding (i.e., large school adjustments, waiting lists, and intercession) are available through Proposition 49. Programs may charge fees, but no one is turned away for an inability to pay. Eligible programs must include: • An educational and literacy component (tutoring and/or homework assistance); • An enrichment component, which may include, but is not limited to, recreation and prevention activities; and • A daily nutritious snack for participants. Student-to-staff ratios cannot exceed 20 to 1 and programs must remain open until at least 6 p.m. and operate for at least 15 hours per week. Elementary school programs must enroll students 5 days per week and middle school students must enroll students for a minimum of 9 hours per week (operating at least 3 days per week). Both Rosemead and Garvex School Districts receive ASES funding and provide after school care for 151 through 8 grade students. Rosemead uses the funds (approximately $600,000 annually) to operate its own ASES program. Garvey receives just over $1.4 million and subcontracts with Woodcraft Rangers for its program at 11 school sites. Participation levels and waiting list figures for both programs are detailed below: Rosemead School Site Participants Waiting List Encinita 88 Janson 88 Savannah 88 Shuey 88 Muscatel Middle 125 Totals 477 250 Garvey School Site Participants Waiting List Bitel 90 5 Emerson 95 17 Rice 87 10 City Council Meeting October 13, 2009 Page 4 of 7 Sanchez 90 12 Willard 87 5 Garvey Intermediate 85 0 Temple Intermediate 78 0 Totals 612 49 Participation in these after school programs represent less than 16% of Rosemead students attending schools in both districts as seen in the table below. School K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Encinita 61 67 • 52 50 62 45 52 Janson 99 92 101 88 93 96 94 Savannah 53 96 100 80 102 91 93 Shue Muscatel Sub Total 70 283 74 329 54 307 73 291 90 347 60 292 75 314 368 368 380 380 2911 Bitel 71 73 76 64 103 72 83 Emerson 76 89 88 79 96 82 82 Rice 104 81 91 94 91 97 86 Sanchez 52 65 55 61 80 62 62 Willard Garvey Temple Sub Total 55 358 81 389 72 382 74 372 70 440 75 388 68 381 395 244 639 408 217 625 97 Totals 641 718 689 663 787 680 695 1007 1005 6885 21s` Century Community Learning Centers (215` Century Funding) California's 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program is a state-administered, federally funded grant program resulting from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It provides funding to create incentives for establishing before- and after-school enrichment programs that partner schools and communities to provide academic and literacy support and safe, constructive alternatives for youth. Each program must consist of academic assistance, educational enrichment, and family literacy service components. Programs must operate during every regular school day and may operate on pupil-free days. Local educational agencies, cities, counties, community-based agencies, other public or private entities (which may include faith-based organizations), or a consortium of two or more such agencies or organizations can apply for funds. Programs must be a community-wide collaboration of parents, youth, school districts, governmental agencies City Council Meeting October 13, 2009 Page 5 of 7 (e.g., cities, counties, parks and recreation departments), community organizations, and the private sector. Rosemead School District has never applied for 21St Century funding. Woodcraft Rangers received 21St Century monies in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to help offset the cost of after school programs at Garvey School District sites. However, they were unsuccessful in procuring the funding for the current school year, which led to a 25% reduction in after school program capacities at all sites. Alternative Payment Programs (Options) At the City Council meeting of September 8, there was discussion about Options, a state-recognized Alternative Payment Program. In speaking with an Options representative, the state has made funding available to them to provide for Safe Care and other participants who have been displaced by the state's de-funding of the Latchkey program. Additionally, that funding can be used for Safe Care or any number of similar programs. However, subsidized families qualify for the funding. That would include 40 Safe Care participants. Options staff says that they have communicated with each of those families, but, despite deadlines, fewer than half have responded. Rosemead School District Proposal Rosemead School District reviewed Safe Care Program costs and determined that participants would have to pay in excess of $400 monthly to fund the program. Because it was too cost prohibitive, they have focused on creating the ASART (After School Academy and Recreation Tutorial) Program as a for-fee equivalent of ASES, for which participants would pay $175 per month. To date, Janson's ASART. is at capacity (20), and Encinita and Savannah likely will be by the end of October. As earlier indicated, the district has also asked the City to supplement after school efforts through our drop-in program. This proposal, however, does not address childcare for kindergarten students (whose schedules differ from older students) or before-school care for any students. The district indicates, however, that parents have already sought alternatives to meet this need. To ensure that working parents are provided a childcare option during pupil-free days, the district has requested that the City expand our Day Camp program from 8 weeks of summer to 15 weeks year-round for which they would consider providing a facility. Parks and Recreation Department Programs The Parks and Recreation Department is transitioning its elementary after-school sports program to reflect more traditional after-school recreation including games, crafts, drama, dance, contests, mascot and cheer programs, and intramural, sports. For the current year, our middle school program will continue to focus on competitive sports. We have long programmed in partnership with both ASES and, Woodcraft Rangers in the provision of after school programs. Both have participated in city run sports leagues City Council Meeting October 13, 2009 Page 6 of 7 and ASES students have been involved in a variety of activities at several sites. This makes a partnership with ASES fairly easy to accomplish. There are currently discussions with ASES personnel to attempt a pilot program at Shuey in which both agencies share responsibility for enrichment activities. In return, City program participants would be given access to ASES' homework assistance-a component we desire to add to our program. If successful, similar efforts could be attempted at all sites. All of the activities we currently offer meet the enrichment component requirement. We would incur no additional costs for this joint program. As City Council is aware, the City offered a Day Camp program during the summer. It operated for eight weeks. Participants paid $90 to $100 per week and costs were covered by fees (except transportation-which is paid through Prop A funds). The City could expand the Day Camp to include 11 weeks of summer, a week during the fall, two weeks in the winter, and one week of spring without incurring additional costs by offering to participants at cost. Estimated costs for 5-day Day Camp program for 30 participants are detailed as follows: Purpose Expenditure Weekly Cost Staff (10:1 172.5 hrs/week $11.73/hour $2023.43 Supplies Crafts, games, sports, etc $10/participant $300 Excursions $12/ artici ant $360 Total $2683.43 Cost per participant $89.45 As indicated, a program can be offered to participants at a rate of $90 per week. However, program components including excursions and staff-to-participant ratios can be adjusted to decrease costs. Additionally, the cost of supplies would decrease over time as not all supplies are disposable. It is, therefore, possible, for the City to provide for the extended day care needs of Safe Care and other parents at no additional cost to the City if Day Camp fees are set at a rate for full cost recovery of operational expenses. Additional Items A review of grant sites including the California Department of Education, the Foundation Center, Grants.gov, the US Department of Education, and the US.Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families by the City's Grants Coordinator, suggests that little monies are currently available. When monies are made available for school districts, they are directly notified. As noted by district personnel during the September 8 City Council meeting, ASES funding applications, are due in November, and the district intends to apply. It is also likely that 21t CCLC funding will be available next year. Both of these are sources of funding for before and after school City Council Meeting October 13, 2009 Page 7 of 7 programs and extended day care. However, it is up to interested agencies to submit an application and meet grant requirements. Secondly, the Garvey School District rents facilities to a variety of agencies, including "for-profit' childcare groups. In so doing, parents have access to twelve other childcare programs including language and cultural schools, tutoring programs, and leadership academies and the district generates supplemental revenue. These programs are independently run and are offered at varying costs to participants. Lastly, City staff met with eight representatives from a group identifying itself as the SOS (Save our Safe Care) Committee on September 15. They expressed a desire to seek funding from the city to ensure that the Safe Care Program remains operational for the balance of the current school year. PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS This item has been noticed through the regular agenda notification process. FISCAL IMPACT There would be no additional costs for after-school recreation programs. However, no funds have been budgeted for additional extended day care programs. Thus, a budget amendment would be required to allocate funds from the undesignated balance of the General Fund if such programs are approved. It is, though, recommended that participant fees be established at a level that offsets all operational expenses of any Day Camp programs.