Another year, another long waitlist for BUSD after-school program

Berkeley families scrambled at the start of the school year to find alternative after-school care options after some were notified that their children did not get a spot in a district-run program due to limited space caused by staff shortages.

Working parents’ need for caregivers during the after-school hours of roughly 3 p.m to 6 p.m has renewed calls for universal after-school care at Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD).

Emily Haan, president of the Rosa Parks Elementary School PTA and mother of a first and fourth grader there, has advocated in recent years, as a member of the district’s PTA Collaborative on AfterSchool, for extended learning programs to support working families and close equity gaps. 

“I know we’re in a budget crisis, but BUSD leads education on so many other fronts,” Haan told Berkeleyside. “I just wish they could lead in this way as well.” Her family applied for after-school care this year but withdrew because Haan “didn’t feel comfortable taking a spot” after her work situation changed over the summer. 

“That could go to someone who really needed the care,” she said.

Unlike some programs in California, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell, BUSD does not offer all families after-school care. 

BUSD runs two after-school programs — BEARS, for low-income families, and LEARNS, open to all students — offering activities like sports, gardening and homework help. The programs are run primarily by district employees, though BUSD also has a contract with an outside agency, Elevo Learning, to provide additional staffing for LEARNS. Some schools also offer after-school enrichment classes through their PTAs.

Submitting an application does not guarantee a spot in BUSD’s LEARNS program, and families pay to enroll on a sliding scale unless they meet requirements for fee waivers. Socioeconomically disadvantaged families, unhoused or foster youth students, full-time students, BUSD staff’s children, returning students and siblings of enrolled students are prioritized for the program in that order before enrollment on a first-come, first-served basis starts, according to the district. 

“Like many districts, BUSD is not able to enroll all student applicants for our after-school programs,” Trish ​​McDermott, a BUSD spokesperson said in an email statement Tuesday. “We understand this creates hardships for families and remain committed to opening up as many spaces as we are able, recognizing that there have been persistent staffing challenges to meet the demand.”

According to district officials, nearly 2,000 applicants applied for BUSD’s after-school program this year and 90% were enrolled, leaving 200 families on the waiting list. That’s about one hundred fewer families on the waitlist than in 2022. But for many families who remain left out, navigating life without the aftercare is difficult.

Liz Welton, the parent of a BUSD first grader and a preschooler, said her family did not get a spot in the after-school care program this year even though her son was previously enrolled. Welton and her husband work full-time jobs with little flexibility, and she said after-school care “is vital so that we can make ends meet and afford living here.” She said they received the notice from the district a week before the new school year started.

“We scrounged to figure out what to do each afternoon, having to ask for leeway at work, missing out on wages, and relying on friends as we have no family in the area,” Welton said in an email statement. She said they eventually found a private after-school care provider but initially struggled with access to transportation to get their child there.

Haan said after-school programs don’t seem like a priority for the district and are instead treated as “nice-to-haves,” despite Berkeley being one of the costliest places to live in the country. 

Nationwide, families and educators have advocated for accessible universal after-school programs. In addition to their convenience for working parents, some research has shown that these extended learning programs can increase school attendance and academic achievement, and reduce juvenile crime. 

California invests more in after-school care programs than any other state and is outspent per capita only by Washington D.C., according to a 2020 report by research and advocacy organization Afterschool Alliance. In 2021, the state further increased funding by $5 billion for summer and after-school enrichment programs in elementary schools to offset learning loss during the pandemic. 

But despite the funding, after-school programs in California — and across the country — are struggling with worker shortages. According to Vox, these caregiver jobs tend to be part-time, pay a low wage and lack benefits, making recruitment and retention difficult for school leaders. Because the state sets limits on teacher-student ratios for after-school care, districts wishing to enroll more students must hire additional staff. And since the jobs go away in summertime, they’re less desirable to many workers looking for stability.

On Aug. 7, one week before the start of the school year, a few Berkeley parents attended public comment during a BUSD school board meeting to speak in support of more accessible after-school care and timely notice of enrollment. 

“Many of the families in the district have dual-working households, and not knowing when the after-school care dust settles is a very stressful situation,” said new BUSD parent Namita Dodeja, whose kindergartener comes home in the early afternoon on weekdays.

McDermott said BUSD’s long-term vision is to provide an after-school program “that can offer a place to every Berkeley Unified child who needs care.” 

She said BUSD has been working with the city to increase after-school programming for families, including an expanded space at the Willard Park clubhouse that is expected to open by summer. 

“While we are not there yet, we continue to work to hire new staff in support of this vision and work to improve our communications and processes,” McDermott said in the statement. “We look forward to continued partnership with our families, and the PTA after-school collaborative in particular, in support of this vision.”