To Sacramento City Unified School District Board Members, City of Sacramento Councilmembers & Sac City Unified School District Superintendent Aguilar,

We, the parents and community members at Theodore Judah Elementary School, are writing in strong support of the dissolution of the existing on-campus paid afterschool program run by the SCUSD (Children's Center) and replacement with a program that aligns with current parent and community needs. Preferrably, the City of Sacramento 4thR program. Note, we do not propose any changes to the existing unpaid ASES program.

The Theodore Judah Children's Center has been a long-standing onsite afterschool program and, although at one time was highly regarded, the program no longer meets the needs of our neighborhood and school community for the following reasons:

- Lacks transparency

- Not cost comparable to other programs

- Years long and non-equitable waitlist

- Limited capacity

- Severe limits on flexibility of scheduling

- Has created unsafe conditions for our children

- No nearby option for childcare during summer and school breaks

- Not sustainable

The parent community has been clear througout the past year - the Children’s Center is no longer serving the needs of our families! It is time for a different program!

Since June 2019, there have been numerous meetings between a variety of stakeholders, including a group of concerned parents, the school principal, our School Board Representative (Leticia Garcia), the Children’s Center program manager (Jacquie Bonini) and City of Sacramento 4thR representatives.

City of Sacramento 4thR representatives presented their program at our regularly scheduled school PTA meeting held on January 22, 2020. Replacing the Children's Center with 4thR was overwhelmingly supported by the PTA and a vote was taken to formalize this support.

Earlier this school year, the School District released a one-question survey to current Children Center families and the overwhelming response was to look into other afterschool care options. Subsequently, a letter was sent from the School District to current Children’s Center families that the District run program would be terminated at the end of this school year. Parents have already started to plan and make alternate arrangments based on this information.

We urge you to take the necessary actions to formally remove the Children's Center program from Theodore Judah Elementary and replace it with an equitable, transparent program that has the ability to serve more students, is cost comparable to other programs in the neighborhood, and is sustainable for years to come. Please bring 4thR to Theodore Judah!

Respectfully,

Concerned Theodore Judah parents, neighbors and community members