Garrett after-school programs cut by half

County funding will help some stay open after loss of key grant
Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

— OAKLAND — The number of Partners After School programs offered in Garrett County will be cut in half for the 2010-11 school year, after the county was passed over for a crucial state grant.

Five of the county’s six Partners After School programs faced impending closure until Tuesday, when the county commission allocated $110,000 to help some remain open for 2010-11.

The money was available because of carryover funds from the Garrett County Health Department, according to a county news release.

But it’s not enough to save all the programs. The Friendsville and Kitzmiller programs will be lost unless additional funding is secured, according to Crystal Stewart, executive director of the Garrett County Partnership for Children and Families Inc.

For six years the programs were largely funded by 21st Century Community Learning Center grants from the Maryland Department of Education, but the county has not been awarded that grant for the past two years.

“That pot of money is targeted very much toward high-need schools, and schools that are in improvement status,” Stewart said. Garrett County’s academic success might be hurting the county’s chances of getting the grant, she explained.

It’s the second year running that the county commission has bailed out Partners After School. In 2009-10 the programs survived on a $125,000 Community Development Block Grant that was matched by the county.

“We’re absolutely thrilled that the commissioners have given us the money to do these sites again this year,” Stewart said. “It really will allow us to continue to serve, not all of the kids that we have been, but most of them.” Now Partners After School will likely move toward a consolidated model, with just three sites operating in the county.

Stewart hopes a $41,000 Community Partnership Agreement grant initially designated for the Southern Middle School program can be redirected toward the Grantsville program. That site will serve elementary and middle school students from northern areas of the county.

The county funds will support programs at Southern Garrett Middle School and Accident Elementary School. The Southern Garrett Middle School program will serve both elementary students and middle school students, and will include elementary students transported from Dennett Road, Yough Glades and Broad Ford elementary schools.

During the 2009-10 school year, 220 students countywide attended Partners After School programs, Stewart said.

Garrett County’s after-school programs have existed in some form for more than a decade, starting as small, community-based volunteer initiatives. But the 21st Century grants allowed the programs to enhance their offerings in the mid-2000s.

The main focus of Partners After School is homework assistance, but the programs grew to include certified teachers to tutor students, academic and cultural enrichment activities, alcohol and drug abuse prevention activities and cultural field trips.

Stewart said the county money is a temporary solution to the funding problem. She pointed out that there’s also no funding available for the version of Partners After School that would typically be offered next summer.

“We’re still very actively looking for other options. We have a lot of interagency people that are working on this and trying to figure out how to get the funding,” she said. “We know it’s a wonderful resource for the kids.”

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