Reply to PSA: Fairfax County Proposed Budget CANCELS Middle School After School Programs

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Reply to "PSA: Fairfax County Proposed Budget CANCELS Middle School After School Programs"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm in a neighboring district and my kid is headed off to middle school. I had no idea there even were after school programs. We never had any in elementary school (at least not free or provided by school). Does FCPS have elementary school after school programs? [/quote]

Yes. varies by school. Some hosted by school and some by private companies.

FCPS MS lets out at 2:15. That's pretty much the middle of the workday. Does your child's MS end at 2:15? [/quote]

My child's elementary school ends at 2:10. And elementary students cannot be left alone, however MS students could potentially be left alone for an hour or so.[/quote]

That’s exactly why the program started many years ago. It was originally funded by a federal grant, and then the results were so good the county continued to pay for it.

Research used to justify the program showed middle school is prime age where kids choose whether to go down the path of drugs or gangs or sexual activity when left alone after school for multiple hours. Elementary schoolers are supervised out of necessity, highschoolers have the opportunity to do school sports or get jobs in the afternoon, but middle schoolers are left to their own devices if parents are working and programs for them do not exist that are easily accessible.

I don’t think it is the schools’ job to pay for it. It doesn’t make academics easier/more successful. It makes the county as a whole safer and a better place to live. Have you ever gone to a shopping center near a middle school at Friday dismissal? There are no clubs on Fridays and those kids run wild at the shopping centers for 3 hours until parents come get them. The one by Irving had to have cops there every Friday for a while (maybe still?) to try to prevent shoplifting in Walgreens and kids running through parking lots. It benefits ALL county residents to have our young teens positively engaged in a supervised location.

(Should parents…parent their kids? Absolutely. But clearly many can’t/don’t, and this is a relatively cheap, positive way to problem solve—cheaper than trying to get kids out of gangs or off drugs or into juvy for committing crimes)[/quote]

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