Correction appended.
This story has been updated to reflect the most recent reporting.
More than 100 other programs — including those at Federal Hocking and Miller school districts — were at risk of losing funding for before- and after-school enrichment later this year, but the Ohio Department of Education is now expected to continue to award grants to those schools.
Each year, the Ohio Department of Education gets $42 million in federal funds to give to K-12 schools as 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. The money is used for 276 before- and after-school programs throughout the state, 134 of which are set to expire June 30.
Earlier this year, the Ohio Department of Education announced it would not, for the time being, award any new 21st Century grants for next school year while it focuses on the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The department is working on the proposal for the act to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in April.
The department is continuing to fund schools that are on existing, multiple-year grants that extend beyond next year,, Brittany Halpin, associate director for Media Relations for the Ohio Department of Education, said. Halpin said the department plans to move “very quickly.”
“We are concerned on the wide-reach impact this is going to have on after-school across the state of Ohio,” Nichelle Harris, the director of Ohio Afterschool Network, said.
Halpin said districts are not “losing money” and the department is not ending the grant program, just delaying the application process for new grants while the Ohio Department of Education works with stakeholders to “align priorities” of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Reapplication does not guarantee renewal of the grant because the 21st Century grant is highly competitive, Harris said.
Harris said members of the Ohio Afterschool Network are collecting signatures to protest the decision.
“We have other advocacy efforts like letter writing and phone calls,” she said. “We’re trying to engage our legislators … to make sure they’re aware that educators do not support this decision.”
Both Alexander and Trimble school districts received $200,000 from the grant for Fiscal Year 2017, though they would not be directly affected by the delay because they remain eligible for continuing funding as part of a three-year cycle.
“(The 21st Century grant) allows us to have before- and after-school programs, which helps the community and parents,” Jared Bunting, the treasurer of Trimble Local Schools, said. “It helps provide several different things. It helps students with tutoring and several different things.”
Trimble officials will be meeting with Ohio University officials this week, Bunting said. OU writes the grant for Trimble and submits it to the state. The university also contracts with Trimble to help with some before- and after-school programs, such as tutoring and college readiness.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll still be able to continue on with the grant itself, but we are also going to explore other alternatives just in case,” Bunting said.
Bunting said alternative funding could come from local grants to bridge the gap, but he cannot confirm Trimble’s options because he has not met with OU.
A previous version of this article incorrectly listed which schools would be affected by the grants. The article has been updated to show the most accurate information.
