Parents unite against Hollister district’s plan to change afterschool programs
Crosspost from Benito Link
Young protesters asking the Hollister School District to not change the after school programs. Photo by Robert Eliason.
The Hollister School District trustees are reconsidering a plan to take over their afterschool programs, which would have severed their long-standing relationship with the YMCA and the Youth Alliance (YA), after an overwhelming public show of support for the two organizations.
Facing a capacity crowd, with around 50 attendees outside of the building watching the meeting on cell phones, the trustees were themselves schooled by parents, teachers and people who work in the programs as they spoke during the four-and-a-half hours it took for them to decide to table the motion until next month.
At issue are the applications to the state for continued funding for the district’s Expanded Learning Opportunities Program and After School Education and Safety programs, which have been run by YA (as the CASA De Milagros program) and the YMCA since the district first approached them in 2003, after failing in its own efforts to administer the programs.
On April 14, according to YA director Diane Ortiz, both organizations were notified that their services would no longer be needed beyond this school year. Parents, students and teachers got word of the decision on April 21.
While dozens of people spoke during three public comment periods, the main points were made by one of the first speakers, a young girl, approximately eight years old, who said, “We really like our programs. Nobody is really asking for this, and we don’t feel like they should be taken away.”