NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton School Committee has postponed for at least a year a decision on whether to create a district-run child care program or to have the YMCA expand its child care program to Leeds Elementary School.
The Hampshire Regional YMCA offers after school child care programs for Jackson Street, Ryan Road and Bridge Street elementary schools. Leeds Elementary currently runs its own before- and after-school programs, known as the EarlyBird and LateBird. Under previous superintendent John Provost, the Leeds program had been used as a pilot program to determine whether such after-school programs were feasible for other elementary schools in the district.
Committee member Dina Levi put forward a motion to postpone the decision for another year, until the school district hires a new superintendent next year.
“I don’t want folks to feel like we’re deferring this or stringing people along,” she said. “[But] I think we need to be in a place both financially and from a leadership perspective to discuss the realities of a districtwide program.”
Other committee members, including Kaia Goldman, questioned whether moving ahead was even the committee’s decision to make, saying it had already done its part by directing the previous superintendent to create the Leeds pilot program.
“I wonder if this really belongs on the superintendent’s desk, and not a decision that we get to make,” Goldman said. “There’s a lot of reasons for us not to. I don’t think it makes sense for us to make this decision tonight necessarily.”
Christine Wenz, Leeds Elementary principal, provided the committee with some financial information regarding the after-school program at the school, saying it was a profitable operation. According to Wenz, the program made a $32,000 profit last year, with an average monthly income of $13,200 and $10,100 in average monthly expenses. The program employs eight to 10 staff members each day and has around 160 students enrolled.
“There is a benefit to having the program for funding purposes,” she said. “But it is primarily for the parents and the students, to be able to be in school with staff they are familiar with and running the program.”
People who spoke during public comment at last week’s School Committee meeting were split on whether the Leeds or YMCA program would work best.
Kim Allore, the senior program director at the Hampshire Regional YMCA, said the program should expand into Leeds. The YMCA’s program currently has 177 children registered in the school district, with 15% of those having some form of child care subsidy or financial aid through the YMCA, she said.
“We spend a lot of time on continuous quality improvement so we can continue to offer the highest quality program to our kids,” Allore said. “We are a safe place where they can come and be who they are without the regular stresses of the day.”
The committee ultimately approved the motion to postpone, with two committee members, Meg Robbins and Gwen Agna, abstaining.
