After-school programs might get cut in FCPS next school year, due to high budget cuts caused by rising costs and the economy.
The budget proposal suggests cutting almost $60 million in spending, of which $4.13 million will come from the after-school and the Value in Prevention programs, according to a March 11 article on ffxnow.com.
Mr. Donald Washington, principal of RCMS, said it was a budget cut proposed by the Fairfax County government, but nothing has been established yet.
“No outcome has been decided yet,” he said, ”but there will be voting [on May 13].”
Kaili Shi, an eighth-grader on the Voyagers team and a member of Science Olympiad, feels that cancelling after-school programs is unfair.
“I think that it is a loss to middle school students and parents because they miss out on important opportunities in higher education,” said Kaili. “High-achieving academic students will feel robbed of the opportunity to learn.”
Malia Connor, an eighth-grader on the Voyagers team, thinks rising eighth-graders and seventh-graders will be disheartened if the clubs get cancelled.
“The seventh-graders will be disappointed because I know that a lot of seventh-graders like exploring in these clubs,” she said. “The sixth-graders won’t get the same opportunities as I and other middle schoolers have had.”
Ashwin Pappu, a seventh-grader, on the Dream Team, who has taken part in the debate and rocketry clubs, agrees with Malia.
“It would hurt a lot,” said Ashwin. “it would feel sad and it wouldn’t allow me to pursue my passion of public speaking and engineering.”
Additionally, many students have also developed certain interests and hobbies from their clubs.
Kaili said, “I found out that I was very passionate about studying life science such as biology, anatomy, and environmental science.”
Ashwin also stated that, not only was he able to improve his public speaking skills from debate, but he also made new friends from joining the clubs.
He said, “It allowed me to make friends with people who had the same interests as me.”
Moreover, revoking these clubs will impact 23,000 students and families, according to a statement by the Virginia Partnership for Out-of-School Time. According to ffxnow.com, nearly 40% of parents said that their children would be staying at home alone if there were no after-school activities.
Ms. Vidya Oruganti, mother of an RCMS student, feels very passionate about this subject, and agrees that after-school activities should not get defunded.
“I think that it’s a very good opportunity for the kids to challenge themselves toward their passion, whether it’s public speaking or engineering or Science Olympiad, or even cooking,” she said.
The after-school program was created as a result of criminal activity after school hours when there were over 100 gangs in Fairfax County, according to the Virginia Partnership for Out-of-School Time statement.
“I think that for schools in certain areas, [criminal activity] will be worse than others.” said Kaili.
The after-school program was also a way to provide the students with outlets for creativity and other opportunities they couldn’t receive fully from just the electives at Carson.
Mr. Washington also said that not only does it provide students with a way to express their creativity, but it also helps with things related to academics, like grades and attendance.
“It was created to give the kids a place to help them engage in school and provide them with more opportunities to help them do what they’re passionate about,” he said.
Kaili agrees. She said she thinks that the afterschool program is helping kids learn skills that will help them in the future and learn about content which will prove useful later in life.
“Science Olympiad gives me a channel to learn more about topics that I’m going to be doing in the future as a doctor,” she said. “Science Olympiad has events such as anatomy, which allows me to prepare for my future.”
FCPS and the Fairfax County government are currently trying to find ways to keep the after-school and Value in Prevention programs, while also going through with the budget cut.
“We are trying to figure out how to make it work,” said Mr. Washington, “[…] what we will need to do to support the students and staff.”
