The sun had already gone down, so Aziza Salukombo turned on the string lights lining the ceiling of her classroom. School let out about an hour ago, but Salukombo’s 6th grade students were still hard at work researching careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Salukombo works for Open Doors Academy (ODA), which partners with schools across Ohio to provide tuition-free after-school programs. Formerly a teacher in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, she now leads ODA’s program at Village Prep Cliffs, a charter school in Cleveland’s MidTown neighborhood.
Salukombo guides her students through projects and lessons that build on what they learn in school, she said. She also makes time to help students finish homework assignments. Sometimes, the group goes on field trips or has cultural celebrations.
Research on out-of-school programs shows that students who attend can benefit both academically and socially. But in Cleveland and across the country, programs face financial challenges and uncertainty. Many districts, including CMSD, used temporary COVID-19 relief money to expand out-of-school programs. That money expired last year, leaving districts with tighter budgets. Regardless, local providers say they’re prepared.
What does temporary COVID-19 relief money have to do with after-school programs?
In Cleveland, CMSD decided last February to stop funding most organizations that hosted out-of-school programs for students in the district’s schools. The district, like many, used temporary pandemic relief money to pay for those programs beginning in 2021. When that money ran out, CMSD officials announced that the district would not continue paying those providers to run programs starting in the 2024-2025 school year.
Before those cuts took effect, a handful of providers hosted before-and after-school programs in more than 90 CMSD schools. That number is now closer to 30, said Dave Smith, the executive director of Horizon Education Centers.
Horizon peaked at six programs in CMSD schools in 2022, Smith said. After the money from CMSD ran out, the organization cut back to just one school-based program in addition to the organization’s four learning centers in Cleveland. Altogether, Horizon has about 500 CMSD students in its out-of-school programs, Smith said.
The expiration of pandemic relief money didn’t affect every organization the same way. The Cleveland Play House, for example, has been steadily expanding its out-of-school programs through state and federal grants, said Pamela DiPasquale, the theater’s education director.
The Cleveland Play House currently hosts daily after-school classes in 10 CMSD elementary schools. They offer students tutoring in math and reading as well as other activities incorporating art and physical education.
Does CMSD offer its own afterschool programs?
It’s hard to list all of CMSD’s in-house after-school activities because they vary from school to school, said Jeffery Allen, CMSD’s director of arts education. And there are a lot of them.
Teachers often step up to lead before-or after-school clubs and activities based on student interest, he said. There have been teacher-led running clubs, skateboarding clubs, chess clubs and band programs, to name a few. At Riverside School, for example, an art teacher recently ran a club where students painted a mural in the school.
CMSD has a district-wide after-school and weekend program called All-City Arts, too. Students from any CMSD school can participate in activities such as dance, choir, orchestra and musical theater. Students are currently rehearsing for the All-City Musical. They’ll perform “Chicago” in May.
CMSD also offers after-school sports. Across all high schools and elementary schools, nearly 4,500 students participate in the district’s athletic teams and activities, according to Desiree Powell, the district’s executive director of athletics, student activities, health, wellness & physical education. In addition to common sports like basketball and football, the district also has a girls rugby team at the John Marshall High School campus and about 10 e-sports teams in various schools, Powell said.
Why do after-school programs matter?
Because of her work schedule, Vicki Morgan wouldn’t be able to pick up her twin daughters, both in 6th grade at Village Prep Cliffs, when school lets out. That’s when Morgan’s mother, Evelyn Cloud-Morgan, could step in because she’s retired and has a more flexible schedule.
Cloud-Morgan could look after the girls when they get out of school, but instead, they go to Open Doors Academy’s after-school program Monday through Friday. It’s not that Morgan needs child care, she said. She wants her daughters to have the kind of enriching experiences they wouldn’t get sitting at home.
Still, it wasn’t her idea to send her daughters to ODA. “They wanted to come here for years,” she said.
In the three years they’ve been in ODA’s afterschool program, Morgan’s daughters have learned about different career fields and other cultures while making friends and staying on top of homework.
“They’re structured,” Cloud-Morgan said. “There’s study time and there’s other educational activities, so they’re always learning the whole time.”
Research has shown that, with consistency and quality, academic-focused after-school programs can help students do better in school and on standardized tests. Programs that focus on those areas also have social and emotional benefits.
ODA reports that nearly two-thirds of its students improved their scores on math and reading tests. More than 80% of ODA’s students also reported that they felt a sense of belonging.
Jaylah Johnson, a 6th grade student at Village Prep Cliffs, just started going to ODA’s afterschool program this year. She said her experience has been OK so far.
She likes getting time to work on homework and group projects, but, “It’s just a lot to fit into one day,” she said. Still, she prefers ODA over relaxing at home, she said. Although she already knows all the students in her afterschool class, she likes spending more time with them.
“I knew everybody last year, but I feel like I have gotten a lot closer with them,” Johnson said.
How much does it cost to run an after-school program?
Smith, the executive director of Horizon Education Centers, estimated that a basic afterschool program costs somewhere between $200,000 to $250,000 every year. That’s excluding the costs to keep school buildings open after hours, which providers sometimes have to pick up, he said.
To cover those costs, providers often rely on government funding. That’s not always stable, though. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio, for example, closed 17 of its 49 sites across Cuyahoga, Lorain and Erie counties after losing $3 million in federal funding last year. The organization has been raising money from local businesses to fill in that gap, aiming to build up more long-term partnerships with private donors in the area, CEO Allen Smith said.
“It’s still early in the year for us,” he said. “I can tell you we closed the year fairly strongly, and that’s due in part to giving by the Greater Northeast Ohio community.”
Most of the local organizations that provide out-of-school programming get portions of their funding through the same competitive federal grant, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant (CLCC). The money passes through the state government, which then decides what organizations receive funding. Open Doors Academy, Horizon Education Centers, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio and the Cleveland Play House all fund out-of-school programs through CLCC.
Ohio is temporarily pausing CLCC this year so officials can re-think the program’s structure and grant cycle, according to an email from an Ohio Department of Education and Workforce spokesperson. Organizations currently get funding from CLCC in five-year cycles, so the pause won’t have an immediate effect on grant recipients.
On the federal level, some aspects of CLCC have come under scrutiny over the last decade. President Donald Trump proposed a budget during his first term that would have eliminated CLCC if it passed.
DiPasquale, the education director for the Cleveland Play House, said the long-term benefits of afterschool programs are well worth the investment. Seemingly little things like helping students with homework can improve both their lives and their community, she said.
“We talk a lot about how much does after-school programming cost and where we’re going to fund it,” she said. “But we neglect to talk about, what is the cost of not having it?”
