Reply to Petition to Save Aftercare Program at Alice Deal iddle School

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Reply to "Petition to Save Aftercare Program at Alice Deal iddle School"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.
[/quote] Could you share email?[/quote]

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.
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