Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Luke Gamble, 5, left, his sister Lily, 5, and Clara James Warren, 6, right, sit at a table in the cafeteria with other children as they do arts and crafts activities as part of Shades Cahaba Elementary School’s extended day program.
As Homewood City Schools prepares to end its current summer and after-school programs and outsource them to the YMCA, some parents are concerned about how the change will impact their families and children.
The school district has worked with the YMCA on programming for students in its RISE summer academic intervention program in the past and now will extend that partnership to after-school and other summer programs, said Merrick Wilson, communications director for the district.
The YMCA will host a summer day camp at Edgewood Elementary School in June, and the new after-school program begins in August for the elementary schools and Homewood Middle School.
Registration for the summer camp already is open and will close when the program is full or on the Wednesday prior to the camp start date. For the 2024-2025 after-school program, registration opens April 8 at 9 a.m. on the YMCA website. Signup will close either when the program is full or in July.
The school district attributed the change in programs to financial and staffing concerns. A drop-in option, which has allowed parents to pay only for the days they need to use the program, posed significant challenges to the extended-day program (EDP) because staffing couldn’t be planned to provide a safe staff-to-student ratio, Wilson said.
They explored other options, but those would result in raising the cost and additional obstacles with hiring and retaining staff, Wilson said. Current EDP employees have been encouraged to apply to work at the YMCA program, she said. The programs will continue to be held at the elementary and middle schools.
The YMCA after-school program costs $216 a month, which is a $36 increase from the current EDP, Wilson said. There’s also a $79 non-refundable registration fee, plus a $75 deposit due at registration. The $75 deposit will be applied to the first month and is refundable if parents cancel at least two weeks in advance. Scholarships will be awarded based on household income.
Homewood schools Superintendent Justin Hefner said there now are about 500 students registered for EDP, with around 300 attending regularly.
Wilson said the school system understands that changes made to child care options can be difficult, so district officials wanted to communicate changes early.
One of the main differences in the YMCA program is that there will be no drop-in option. That is a significant concern for parents such as Kayla Gaffo, whose children are in third and sixth grade and have used the EDP drop-in option since they were in first grade.
“It’s helped keep our child care costs much lower,” Gaffo said.
The current EDP drop-in rate is $15 a day or $45 a week, whichever is less, Gaffo said. As a nurse who works two days a week, her family depends on the drop-in option, like many other shift or medical workers, she said.
“I will either have to change my work schedule or find a new job. It’s going to mean a big change for someone in our family,” Gaffo said. “The board didn’t seem to realize how many people relied on the drop-in and part-time options.”
Kelly Connor, a mother of a first grader, said not everyone needs weekly care. Some families only need it once a week if work runs over, she said.
“I think the hardest part with all this is the concern that the Board of Education and superintendent either don’t really understand the struggle because it doesn’t apply to them, or that they just don’t care,” Connor said.
Gaffo said she’s also frustrated that parents did not receive a survey or communication about the switch before it was decided.
Some parents are also worried this change will negatively impact the city’s diversity. Little changes like this are how minority families are run out of the school system, Gaffo said.
Another difference between the programs is what is offered during the summer. Unlike the current summer program provided by the schools, the YMCA summer camp does not offer a formal academic portion during the day.
However, the YMCA offers STEM-based projects during the camp program and what they call “disguised learning” through different activities. The YMCA also offers a variety of activities like sports, games, outdoor activities and creative arts.
Parents with questions about the new partnership with the YMCA can reach out to Hefner at jhefner@homewood.k12.al.us or the YMCA at childcare@ymcabham.org.
