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
Updates
May 5, 2020
I have spent my evenings reading your stories about the struggle to find reliable care and these accounts confirm that our current system is completely broken. While the district continues to provide us with silence we are busy preparing our formal testimony for the upcoming board meeting.
May 5, 2020
Seeing this kind of energy for our kids is overwhelming. It is clear that so many other families are struggling with this same childcare crisis and I am so grateful to have you behind this effort.
Reached 100 supporters
May 5, 2020
24 Comments
4th R was proven as a superior program for TJ. Please keep your word and move forward with the plan!
My older child was on the Children's Center waitlist for *years* and never got in. My younger child only got in because I put him on the list long before he entered kindergarten. This process makes the center unavailable to families who move to the area late, who are not "in the know," who experience employment changes requiring flexible childcare. We were quite happy with the care our child received at the Children's Center, but it was not worth the many families who were never able to obtain after school care due to the center's extremely low capacity. We pulled our younger child out of the Children's Center after it became clear that our older child was never going to get in from the wait list. If 4th R were to come to Judah we would sign up in a heartbeat.
We are losing local students to other schools due to lack of reliable and affordable child care options.
Without a reliable afterschool program, we will not be able to send our daughter Phoebe to TJ in the fall for kindergarten.
The after and before school care was unreliable at best. The aides were as little involved as possible especially for the amount being paid. I have a child in Placer county school district as well and their STAR program is far superior for similar price.
I’m a grandfather of 2 students, Connor & Cavan
Bring 4thR to TJ for reliable, dependable childcare.
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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
Updates
May 5, 2020
I have spent my evenings reading your stories about the struggle to find reliable care and these accounts confirm that our current system is completely broken. While the district continues to provide us with silence we are busy preparing our formal testimony for the upcoming board meeting.
May 5, 2020
Seeing this kind of energy for our kids is overwhelming. It is clear that so many other families are struggling with this same childcare crisis and I am so grateful to have you behind this effort.
Reached 100 supporters
May 5, 2020
24 Comments
We can't afford this program any more. The district moved – against her wishes – our long-term teacher, Ms. Arnold, out of the program, and in doing so, doomed it to failure. It's time for them to honor their promise and replace it with 4th R, as they have said several times that they would do. If not, and if the union refuses to back our kids and parents, then I think we should take them to court.
4th R was proven as a superior program for TJ. Please keep your word and move forward with the plan!
My older child was on the Children's Center waitlist for *years* and never got in. My younger child only got in because I put him on the list long before he entered kindergarten. This process makes the center unavailable to families who move to the area late, who are not "in the know," who experience employment changes requiring flexible childcare. We were quite happy with the care our child received at the Children's Center, but it was not worth the many families who were never able to obtain after school care due to the center's extremely low capacity. We pulled our younger child out of the Children's Center after it became clear that our older child was never going to get in from the wait list. If 4th R were to come to Judah we would sign up in a heartbeat.
We are losing local students to other schools due to lack of reliable and affordable child care options.
Without a reliable afterschool program, we will not be able to send our daughter Phoebe to TJ in the fall for kindergarten.
The after and before school care was unreliable at best. The aides were as little involved as possible especially for the amount being paid. I have a child in Placer county school district as well and their STAR program is far superior for similar price.
I’m a grandfather of 2 students, Connor & Cavan
Bring 4thR to TJ for reliable, dependable childcare.
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We can't afford this program any more. The district moved – against her wishes – our long-term teacher, Ms. Arnold, out of the program, and in doing so, doomed it to failure. It's time for them to honor their promise and replace it with 4th R, as they have said several times that they would do. If not, and if the union refuses to back our kids and parents, then I think we should take them to court.