expands access<\/a> to after-school by 10,000 slots \u2013 for a total of 103,000 seats for kids.<\/p>\nOfficials said 70% of schools are sticking with their current providers, while 242 schools will change providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new awards reflect what young people and schools have consistently asked for: stronger social emotional learning, more hands-on enrichment, expanded career exploration, and programming that builds confidence, leadership, and real-world skills,\u201d Youth and Community Development spokesperson Mark Zustovich said.<\/p>\n
He said officials recognize parents feel uncertain about the transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respect those concerns because we know how meaningful trusted adults and strong after-school experiences are in the lives of young people,\u201d he said, adding that the agency \u201cwill manage transitions thoughtfully and responsibly so that young people remain supported, families remain informed and programs begin strong in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Free after-school programs are a lifeline for many working parents. In the heat of the mayor\u2019s race last year, as childcare became a key plank in Zohran Mamdani\u2019s platform, former Mayor Eric Adams promised to increase after-school seats.<\/p>\n
Youth and Community Development officials said the process for assigning programs to schools had been revamped as part of a competitive rebid designed to \u201cstrengthen and expand\u201d after-school programs.<\/p>\n
Instead of principals signing agreements with providers as they had in the past, they were asked to rank their choices. Officials said the agency then evaluated proposals and assigned programs based on an assessment of providers\u2019 experience, capacity and fiscal situation.<\/p>\n
But providers said their programs are quite popular with families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a record, a history of running these programs,\u201d said Manhattan Youth Executive Director Bob Townley. He said his nonprofit lost about half of its after-school contracts.<\/p>\n
Providers at the rally also said the city pays all programs a flat per-pupil rate, so they didn\u2019t think the shift was about saving money.<\/p>\n
Last month, a coalition of PTA presidents representing roughly a dozen middle schools served by the popular program Manhattan Youth called on the Mamdani administration to reconsider the decision to shift providers.<\/p>\n
They said Manhattan Youth has developed strong relationships with their schools, providing a wide range of after-school programs, including journalism, debate, chess, and sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiddle school is an especially vulnerable and formative period,\u201d they wrote. \u201cAfter-school staff often serve as mentors, role models, coaches and stabilizing figures in students\u2019 lives. Abruptly dismantling these established relationships risks undermining the trust, stability, and sense of belonging that students and families rely upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
They called the new process that assigned programs rushed and difficult to understand.<\/p>\n
At the rally, Lisa Marks, a parent from Lab Middle School, said the loss of kids\u2019 beloved athletic programs is particularly gutting against the backdrop of the Knicks’ championship win.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt’s really soul-crushing in a horrible way that in two or three days we’re gonna be celebrating the Knicks coming here for winning their championship, and at the same time, middle schoolers across Manhattan are having their sports ripped out of their schools,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents and politicians are scrambling to restore nearly 250 popular after-school programs after the city announced a shift…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-267997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}