April 22, 2015
17 after-school programs are slated to close on June 30th unless they are restored in the final city budget, leaving 1,882 elementary school children without summer programming or after-school programs next fall.
The closure of these programs will be devastating to the children and families who rely on them – especially because nearly all of the communities that will lose an after-school program are ones where children score below average on the reading and math tests, and where families and children live at or below poverty.
Among the programs slated for closure, 15 of the 17 sites are in community districts where the passage rate on the state reading test (for 3rd to 8th graders) is below the citywide average of 28.4%. Ten of the 17 sites are in community districts where the passage rate on the state math test is below the citywide average of 34.2%.
Click on each map for a closer look!
Furthermore, parents of elementary school children cannot work unless they have a safe place to leave their child, and 11 of the 17 site are located in community districts where the child poverty rate is higher than the citywide average of 29.8%, and many are in communities where over half of children are living in poverty.
CCC and the Campaign for Children are advocating to stop these closures and ensure that all children have access to strong, stable after-school programs. You can help us by sending a letter to Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Mark-Viverito and your Council Member urging them to fund these 17 sites, as well as the additional 2,300 elementary school after-school slots slated to be eliminated by summer.