SAUGUS ― Whether it’s for academic support or daytime child care, one thing is certain: The school district really wants to maintain the Kids Come First program.
Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon asked the School Committee Thursday night to look at putting together a committee to address lack of staffing, which has put a hold on the district’s before- and after-school program Kids Come First.
The staffing issue is not just a Saugus problem but a nationwide one. Across the country, districts have had to make tough choices like the one made by the town to suspend the Kids Come First program, an academic program that helps elementary school students before and after school is in session.
McMahon said that, after speaking with other superintendents, she believed that getting the community more involved could be a solution.
“Essentially, we realized we can’t fix the staffing shortage that relates with teachers,” she said to the School Committee. “But on the community side, we can convene with the committee and really invite members who provide after-school care to come together and look at how we are providing options, as well as be a part of that committee.”
There are multiple different places for students to go after school, like the YMCA and the Shining Stars child-care center. It was noted that these other programs do require payment. Kids Come First was a free program that also supplied free meals before and after school, along with academic help and recreational activities.
Many other after-school programs are also all overbooked, according to the members of the School Committee. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Kids Come First served 150 students a day on average, according to Patricia Romano, assistant principal of the Belmonte STEM Academy.
Before Thursday’s meeting, McMahon and Romano sent out a questionnaire to parents about the program. When asked how many children the parents were interested in enrolling in the Kids Come First program, about 75 percent of parents said they had one child whom they would need to send to before- or after-school care.
Of the 137 families polled, more than 60 percent needed after-school care alone and 28 percent needed both before- and after-school care, resulting in 85 percent of children in total in the district who would need after-school care.
One thing that alarmed McMahon in the questionnaire was the reasons why parents wanted their kids in the program. She was shocked to discover almost all parents weren’t interested in the academic aspect of the program; according to the questionnaire, parents simply needed someone to mind their children while they were at work.
Vice Chair of the School Committee Ryan Fisher wished to reiterate the importance of the program.
“It is an academic-based program that is before and after school,” he said. “It’s after-school help that parents have come to rely on. Especially when you come from Boston and have to pick your kids up at 6 o’clock, kids can get help with their homework throughout the course of that time. It helps on both fronts.”
Fisher was not the only one to express the importance of the academic portion of the program
“It’s really important that residents in the district know that this program (was) developed with the hard work from Mrs. Romano, that it is an educational program,” said committee member John Hatch. “We all understand that after-school care is essential to some of the services that we provide, but this is an educational program first.”
The conversation around Kids Come First will continue to develop as the district and School Committee prepare for the reopening of the program at a date that is yet to be determined.
Hannah Chadwick can be reached at [email protected].
