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By Will Mbah
Candidate for Somerville City Councilor at Large
willmbah.com

This week, many Somerville kids are starting summer camp and other programs of learning, sports, arts and play.  These are among the most valued services that city provides for families and our leaders have properly made commitments to improve their quality and ensure that all kids can take part. 

How are the Out of School Time (OST) programs working? 

In May the School Committee received an update report on the OST programs, which described how the in-school programs have grown from four in 2018 to nine in 2023 and now engage over 1,800 students at all grade levels.  This is 38% of the total of 4,900 students in all grades K through 12.      The budget for OST will be $3,861,000 in FY2024.

Demand from kids and parents is high and the programs cannot enroll all those that apply.  For example, the Community Schools program provides the after-school clubs and activities for K-6 students at all the elementary schools.  It has grown from 632 participants in 2018 to 706 in 2023 and its capacity will increase to 768 in the fall.  But in March 2023, when parents filed applications, all the slots were quickly filled and 110 more eligible students were placed on the waiting list and advised to seek alternatives. 

Some other problems have been identified in the School Department on-line survey last winter.  Many parents reported having difficulty filling out the enrollment forms, especially parents who are non-English speaking.  The time schedules of the afterschool programs do not accommodate the families, whose parents work later hours.  Children with disabilities are encountering problems in joining and taking part in after school activities.  The school department is also finding it difficult to reach families, who have just moved to Somerville, so their children miss out on opportunities.

What steps is the city now taking to improve and expand OST?

As would be expected, the ideal of matching every child with the best learning experiences outside the classroom is complicated work.  Kids have a great variety of interests and the educators and providers offer many learning models and methods to choose from.   

Parents need assistance from the schools and the city: (i) to learn about what programs are available, (ii) to help get their children enrolled; (iii) to help meet fees and costs; and (iv) to access support services — like transportation from school to program and program to home.  In order to help parents, the city has organized three administrative units. 

First, within the School Department, the office of OST has five professionals, who supervise the outreach and direct the program providers.  At each school there is an OST director and assistant, who supervise and coordinate the particular programs. 

Second, the office of Somer Promise in the Department of Health and Human Services is a small staff of social services professionals, who work to insure that every child in the city has access to healthcare, education, and social support, matched with his/her needs.  This includes opportunities for enrichment and fun.  Somer Promise is the connecting point between families and the all the public, private and non-profit programs that are available.  The budget for Somer Promise will be $766,000 for FY 2024.      

Third, the website SomervilleHub.org is the primary communications tool for families to get information about the OST programs.  The Hub has application forms, enrollment instructions, and forms for parents to request financial assistance and support services.  

What are some of the OST programs that kids can join at their schools? 

Among the nine programs that are operated in-schools, the El Sistema Music Education has taught 80-85 students each year since 2018, and the Calculus Project has helped 60-70 students with strong interest in math and sciences.  

Two new projects that are helping teens to build self-esteem are Becoming a Man (with 137 boys enrolled) and Working on Womanhood (with 58 girls).  Soccer without Borders is another new program, begun last year at the Winter Hill School.  Its 59 participants are immigrant children and non-English speakers, who find the familiar activity of soccer as a way to integrate in school and neighborhood life.           

The city assists kids to join activities of non-school organizations

The SomervilleHub.org directs parents and kids to dozens of other activities that are run by the Parks and Recreation Department, the libraries, non-profit and for-profit organizations.  The city has partnership arrangements with these organizations so that Somerville kids can enroll.  For some, the city contracts for a full class or training program at the provider’s facility.  For others, the city may reserve a certain number places for Somerville students and helps their parents make the arrangements, with lower-income families getting reduced fees or vouchers.   

Three examples of these away from school programs are the athletics, learning and fun programs of the YMCA, the youth media programs of Somerville Media Center and the afterschool and summer programs at Elizabeth Peabody House.  Altogether, the SY23-24 Budget has allocated $1.9 million to provide the subsidies for Somerville kids to access these programs.       

 What do we still need to do?

The challenge for the city in the coming year will be how to manage and fund the continuation, improvement and expansion of all of these programs and keep bringing more kids into the activities.  Three difficulties can be foreseen: hiring enough staff, finding space, and replacing the funding from COVID Emergency and ARPA accounts, which will finish in FY2025.  

Already this year, some of the grant-funded salaries and procurement lines have been shifted into regular city budget lines and stabilization accounts, but a large portion of the total still must be re-organized for future years. 

In practical operations, the city will be improving the SomerHub website and the School Department OST communications, in order to allow parents to get better information and more closely monitor access to programs.  

For us parents and Somerville citizens, we will need to stay active and be ready to support the work of the city agencies and kids programs.