Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison: “I like the whole concept of community showing up for community. It’s not always on the schools to provide everything.” Credit: Laura Glesby photo Funding is in limbo for the city’s new after-school programming serving more than 350 students in 20 public schools — three weeks after the initiative began. The Elicker administration had created and launched the New Haven After-School Initiative before the Board of Alders could vote on full contracts with the two local nonprofits executing the program. As it turns out, the Board of Alders decided not to approve the contracts as proposed. Local legislators voted last week to shorten one contract, with New Haven Counts, and to pass over another, with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Haven, due to a disagreement about the original purpose of the contracts’ funding source. Now, the Elicker administration is negotiating a path forward with alders as funding for the after-school program remains uncertain. “I Have Every Confidence That The City Of New Haven Will Uphold Their Stated Obligations” The city has enlisted the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Haven and New Haven Counts to spearhead the after-school program Currently, according to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller, the Boys and Girls Club after-school program is serving 146 students, from kindergarten through 4th grade. New Haven Counts is serving 211 students, from 5th through 8th grade. In a statement, Speiller wrote, “We do not anticipate significant impacts to currently enrolled families at this time. We are committed to working with the Board of Alders towards ensuring there is uninterrupted afterschool and tutoring programming for children and families, and we are hopeful the Board of Alders will take action on these contracts in future meetings.” Tameika Miller, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Haven, said that her organization can continue to operate the after-school initiative with an initial grant to start up the program through the end of September. She said that the city first approached the Boys and Girls Club to submit a proposal for the program this past July. “I have every confidence that the City of New Haven will uphold their stated obligations to support a Boys and Girls Club after-school program in their schools,” Miller said. New Haven Counts’ leadership did not provide a comment in time for this story’s publication. The city announced the new After-School Initiative for the first time on Aug. 14. The program kicked off on Sept. 9. Based at 20 schools across the city, the program offers tutoring, homework help, athletics, and social-emotional learning five days a week through 5:30 p.m. The program costs parents $25 per week, with an option for qualifying low-income parents to waive the fee entirely. Community Services Administrator Eliza Halsey told alders in early September that the city has budgeted $150 per student per month to each of the nonprofits, with a vision that up to 1,400 students will enroll over time. An initial round of funding through a pair of “bridge grants” helped jump-start the program. New Haven Counts received $24,999 from the city’s Community Services Administration, while the Boys and Girls Club received $60,000 from a city grant previously administered to United Way of Greater New Haven. City grants larger than $100,000 need final approval from the Board of Alders; neither bridge grant reached that threshold. Meanwhile, the Elicker administration planned for two larger contracts to ensure that the program could operate through the end of December: a $240,000 contract with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Haven, and a $600,000 contract with New Haven Counts. Those grants would need alders’ approval. They each came before the full Board of Alders for a final vote on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Alders unanimously voted that night to cut funding for the New Haven Counts contract in half, from $600,000 to $300,000. They also voted to curtail the time frame for that contract so that rather than lasting through the end of December, it would extend until the end of October. Meanwhile, aldermanic leadership decided to “pass over” the Boys and Girls Club contract altogether, declining to take it up for a vote. “That’s Not The Direction That We Voted On” According to Dixwell Alder and President Pro Tempore Jeanette Morrison, the two contracts did not pass through the Board of Alders due to their funding source. The Elicker administration planned to fund the contracts by way of a $1 million general fund allocation designated for the New Haven Tutoring Initiative — a program providing twice-weekly literacy and math tutoring for New Haven Public Schools students selected for extra academic support. The New Haven Tutoring Initiative started under Mayor Justin Elicker in 2023 as a pandemic-response program funded by a local allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. Over 20 local youth-centered organizations, large and small, received administrative support from New Haven Reads, New Haven Counts, and United Way of Greater New Haven to connect students with trained volunteer tutors. This fiscal year, as ARPA funds near their expiration date at the end of 2026, the New Haven Tutoring Initiative was incorporated in the city’s general fund for the first time. Morrison, a champion of the initiative on the Board of Alders, said that when alders had appropriated funds for the New Haven Tutoring Initiative in the spring, they did not envision those funds being used for an after-school program operating in school buildings. “Our legislative body said, No, that is not the direction that was brought to us… That’s not the direction that we voted on,” said Morrison. “As a board, we voted for the New Haven Tutoring Initiative, which was community-based,” said Morrison. She said that in her view, an important part of the New Haven Tutoring Initiative was the city’s partnership with a wide array of partners, from citywide nonprofits to neighborhood-based initiatives to faith communities. “The reason why for me, in particular, I was so invested in this was because I like the whole concept of community showing up for community,” said Morrison. “It’s not always on the schools to provide everything.” Another difference between the two programs is the availability of math and literacy tutoring for a variety of age ranges. Under the New Haven Tutoring Initiative, families could sign their kids up for math or reading instruction. Under the after-school program, at least in its current form, elementary school students are all receiving literacy tutoring while middle school students are all receiving math tutoring, according to Halsey’s presentation. Morrison said that alders are now working with the Elicker administration to reformulate the program so that it aligns with that original vision for the New Haven Tutoring Initiative. Asked about the decision to pass over the Boys and Girls Club contract entirely last Tuesday, Morrison said, “the [Elicker] administration is gonna have to find the funding to be able to pay them.” In response to Morrison’s argument, Mayor Justin Elicker wrote in a statement on Friday, “The New Haven After-School Initiative builds on and is an expansion of the New Haven Tutoring Initiative. Tutoring is a core component of afterschool programming, and the initiative now also includes additional learning and enrichment activities as well as sports and physical activities. The expanded initiative also provides families with daily, expanded hours – offering programming every school day from dismissal to 5:30 pm.” He wrote, “Alder Morrison raised some important points about ensuring previous tutoring partners continue to be included in this year’s tutoring and afterschool initiatives, and we’re in active conversations with Alder Morrison and our partners to ensure we can serve as many children as possible.” Those conversations are ongoing. Speiller wrote in a statement on Monday that “the city is currently working with the United Way of Greater New Haven and other community partners on continued tutoring opportunities in community-based programs.” “Some families,” Speiller continued, “may elect to have school-based afterschool programming everyday from dismissal to 5:30 pm. Other families may elect to have one-hour tutoring sessions twice a week at community-based programs. Different students and families have different needs and schedules, and we’re trying to offer as many options as possible to support our public school families.” The post Funding Uncertain For City’s New After-School Initiative appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less