Petition to Save Aftercare Program at Alice Deal iddle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would very much like to have an after school option that runs later than activities restored at Deal, but I don't appreciate the accusatory language in the petition.

It seems much more to me like the program needed to be sacrificed as the result of hard choices in austere times. Perhaps, since most Deal families are not experiencing the same level of austerity in their personal budgets, we can come up with a private solution that will still cost each of us less than individually contracted supervision.

I really agree with this idea. Forget asking DCPS to pay for this. The PTA needs to contact a high quality private group, charge parents a marketable fee that would be a fraction of the cost per kid of an experienced nanny, and get this in place by the winter (or when winter break ends) of 2013. If the PTA can't get this done, then seriously, it's time for new presidents. In fact, I can't really understand why this was not done already...the program the had last year was atrocious--I pulled our kid after just a few days of chaos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would very much like to have an after school option that runs later than activities restored at Deal, but I don't appreciate the accusatory language in the petition.

It seems much more to me like the program needed to be sacrificed as the result of hard choices in austere times. Perhaps, since most Deal families are not experiencing the same level of austerity in their personal budgets, we can come up with a private solution that will still cost each of us less than individually contracted supervision.

While Deal does serve many wealthy families, I don't know that these are the ones using aftercare. The Deal families I know personally who choose Aftercare are OOB families who don't feel comfortable with their kids home in less safe neighborhoods, or with their kids commuting on public transportation. These families come from a range of economic circumstances.

A sliding scale seems like a reasonable compromise.

How do elementary schools such as Murch or Eaton handle this situation?

Many elementary schools that are not Title I have had private programs for years. http://murchschool.org/community/after-school-programs

Rhee added "out of school time coordinators" to school staffing model at $50K a pop. In theory, universal OST seemed like a way to bridge the gaps between 3:15 and modern family schedules. It was not sustainable at the centralized level financially or management wise. Now it's every school for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP why do you need a petition to ask for an opportunity to sit down and hash this out with the principal and others? We emailed him directly and he gave a fairly lengthy explanation about why the decision was made. And would hear ideas to help solve the problem.

Could you share email?

[Anonymous]

Many, many more parents would use the aftercare if it was a high quality one that was carefully selected with accountable quality control (such as the one at Janney ES) There was a low percentage of IB families in the program because the "free program " was not good. It was chaotic--it was run by overtired and imo, tressed out teachers who really are not up to the task. Parents should not tolerate an administration that fails to advocate for and implement this--it is a very important piece in the administration of a school.

[Anonymous]

Hello. Deal is a middle school. Teach your kids how to take public transportation. Give them a key. Tell them to make themselves a pnb&j sandwich and do their homework. Or have them go to the rec. They don't need aftercare. They need to learn how to take care of themselves.

[Anonymous]

stop expecting tax-payers to pay for your babysitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP why do you need a petition to ask for an opportunity to sit down and hash this out with the principal and others? We emailed him directly and he gave a fairly lengthy explanation about why the decision was made. And would hear ideas to help solve the problem.

Could you share email?

I’m not going to repost the email but I’ll summarize the facts:
- DCPS eliminated afterschool funding for all non-title I middle schools (Deal and Hardy)
- Private sources of funding were explored including grants, those efforts didn’t pan out
- Deal already offers a number of activities afterschool which take up staff time; difficult to put an aftercare program on top of all of those activities; staffing for aftercare was a huge issue
- A very small number of kids participate regularly in the program – as someone else noted @80 students on average each day; Deal has an enrollment of 1,000.
- Deal is exploring bringing in new programs to take place afterschool; these may help fill the gap

I don’t think parents are expecting DCPS to pick up the tab. I personally would rather see more robust afterschool programming that ties to what the kids are already learning – instead of a straight aftercare program. There are already a significant number of activities that happen afterschool, but I definitely understand that this puts some people in a bind. I think the tone of the petition is somewhat unfair. If there is a contingent of parents that want to take this on, then do it. Why does everything have to be so adversarial? And why does the PTA have to be responsible for figuring this out? Get your people together, go up there and talk to Albright and staff. Then come up with some realistic proposals to help move things along. You've already entrusted your children to these people for goodness sake - give them the courtesy to explain the situation and explore ideas to solve the problem.

[Anonymous]

Ok 16:22 tell us how u really feel.

[Anonymous]

As the person who started the Deal petition and is helping to spearhead efforts to find a reasonable solution to this problem come August 27 (a mere seven weeks away), I really appreciate the robust discussion here. We are trying to find solutiions, including establishing a quality program that parents would contribute to. We're not looking for a handout; we're looking for a dialogue and some solutions from Principal Albright, DCPS, our PTA and parents. The problem is that we were never afforded that opportunity, until parents stood up and made our voices heard. Before the decision was made to end the program, we would have appreciated the chance (back in April or May) to seek out some options. Instead, we received a email newsletter on July 3 with an "oh, by the way" message from the principal that the program was being discontinued. If our petition is perceived to be "accusatory in nature," it is only because so many of us were caught off guard and are now scrambling for something to do to keep our kids engaged and SAFE. (Simply sending 10-14 years olds home on Metro with a key and instructions to make a PB&J is not acceptable to most parents--especially parents of rising 6th graders.) The good news is that we are scheduling a meeting with Principal Albright, who has been out of town since early July. We remain hopeful that we can find a solution here. We welcome any additional thoughts or ideas from this community.

Kevin Morison

[Anonymous]

I am not the OP but I suggested that the OP put the issue into this forum. For better or worse Deal does not have a general information list serve (I can see it could be a monster, but it would also be useful.) Short of an internal method of posting to other Deal parents about an issue as it arises, DCUM because it has so many Deal parents on it is an alternative. Earlier this month this was also an issue at Oyster.

I have also directly communicated to Mr. Albright that just telling parents in an email is not helpful for many of us that are new to the Deal community. If he is going to be an effective replacement for Dr. Kim he will have to deal with these issues and effectively communicate if there are options and what the community can do to solve these type of problems.

Having dealt with the afterschool programs at several schools I am not surprised that this money is gone for non-title one schools. That however does not mean that parents and school administrators won't be able to fund some type of supervisory capacity for some period after school. But there has to be a place where people can find out there is a potential option and make constructive suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Well it sounds like there is more issue with how the message was delivered (and the timing). I would just let that part go because honestly, the program was not very good, especially compared to the other activities going on at school. For us it was a matter of convenience.

Now that my kid is entering 7th, aftercare is not a must have. A larger number of families is needed to sustain anything, so the offering has to be attractive to parents and KIDS especially if people will be expected to shell out $$ for it.

[Anonymous]

I found this blog to be a good read.

[Anonymous]

My child isn't at Deal yet, but I'm having a hard time with blaming a principal for not providing enough notice of a DCPS city-wide issue (lack of funding for aftercare). Anyone who has had a child in DCPS this past year knows that funding is being cut all around (libraries, anyone?). Anyone on this board knows that there has been concern about DCPS-funded aftercare programs for several months.

[Anonymous]

Watkins ES just yesterday put out a similar announcement.

[Anonymous]

Find out how much aftercare program costs.

How much will be have to be pulled from other programs to continue aftercare?