Teachers cheer as an elementary schooler named Kingston aces a math activity.
“Yeah!" they shout. "95 percent mastered of his addition!”
He’s part of an academic program at the Boys and Girls Club of Freeport and Stephenson County. The club serves hundreds of students in and around Freeport.
One of the teachers, Carrie, has been helping Kingston for years at the club. But she hadn’t seen him in months. That’s because she was laid off last year, along with other staff members at the club.
“I'm glad to be back," she said, "accomplishing what I like to do, because I like helping the kids and seeing them grow in their learning."
That also means students like Kingston didn’t receive individualized support. Teachers like Carrie are back now, but the Freeport Boys & Girls club is still dealing with substantial financial uncertainty.
Last year, two of their funding sources went away at the same time. First, Illinois promised after school programs $50 million in the state budget. But they haven’t received any of that money, despite repeated calls from advocates. Secondly, the Illinois State Board of Education announced they would not be renewing a nearly $1.5 million grant to the Boys and Girls Club Illinois Alliance.
Becky Spindler is the Freeport club’s education coordinator. She says they were one of several Boys and Girls clubs impacted. She says Freeport's previous 21st Century Learning Center grant was for $215,000.
They had the grant for 10 years and knew it was ending. But Spindler says, based on their academic and community work, they were excited about their chances for the next grant. In fact, they were asking for more money to expand their services.
Instead of on-site programs in just a few schools, they hoped to be in every Freeport elementary school, plus the middle, high school, their club, and a local housing authority. But that’s not what happened.
“We felt very confident that we would be awarded something," said Spindler, "and to hear that it's nothing? That was a big blow to us."
James Rhyne is the executive director. He says they had to cut staff from about 60 part-timers to around 22.
“These people work with us for years," he said, "and to tell them that their services are no longer needed -- that's difficult."
They even had a handful of people who were laid off come back as volunteers to help students.
Rhyne says he can only speculate as to why they didn’t receive the grant, but he says the general consensus is that sites are required to develop sustainability plans. Spindler says these are plans to show how you’ll sustain funding after a grant ends.
“A sustainability plan for the grant that ended was $215,000 a year," she said, "and for our community to sustain that amount of money consistently is difficult without the community and everyone together."
Rhyne says to expect that is unrealistic. He says the grant cycles were extended to provide consistency and sustainability, which leads to better outcomes. So, he’s worried that this loss of funding will cause programs to cut back and lose that consistency, and lead to worse outcomes.
As for the $50 million that was never released to after-school programs? The State Board of Education says they are waiting on further guidance from the legislature before they release the money. But several state lawmakers say the agency already has the power to send it out. Either way, it hasn’t happened yet. And people like Rhyne don’t know when, or if, they'll get that money.
In Freeport, they had to scale back. And, because of the loss of that government funding, they’re relying even more on community donors to keep their doors open, along with drawing down on their cash reserves.
Spindler says that’s allowed them to bring back teachers like Carrie and re-open programs at a few schools. She says their academic programing is crucial, especially to make sure students are on track to graduate.
“We have another probably eight to 10 youth that will be graduating in May," she said. "If we were not there, they would not have graduated.”
The club offers academic programs for kids of any age, but Rhyne says the Boys & Girls Club does a lot more. They also have art classes, outdoor programs, a dance team, and a basketball gym.
Justin is a youth engagement specialist at the club, just finishing up a game of 1-on-1. He grew up coming to this club and so, when he moved home to Freeport a few years ago, he knew he wanted to give back.
“I’m just doing many different physical activities and talking about life," he said, "and just engaging with them, trying to keep them on a straight path."
While many younger kids come after school because their parents are working, when they get older, students can choose whether or not they want to be there. So, he says they have to be a safe and fun space for kids of every age.
And no matter what happens with state and federal funding, Rhyne says they’re going to do their best to make sure they can keep providing that space for students.
