Perry Central Com Schools Corp board authorizes one-year rainy-day funding to maintain after-school programming
Loading...
Summary
The Perry Central Com Schools Corp board voted to authorize use of rainy-day funds for one year to sustain after-school services for preschool–grade 12 while staff pursues grant funding, after a staff presentation outlining a funding gap and program reductions.
At its regular meeting, the Perry Central Com Schools Corp board unanimously approved a staff request to use rainy-day funds for one year to maintain after-school programming while the district pursues additional grant funding.
Staff member said the district faces a one-year funding gap if the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant is not renewed for 2026–27 and proposed using reserve funds to preserve core services. “The proposal that that we're making is to essentially use rainy day funds for a year,” the staff member said during the discussion.
The proposal would continue programming for preschool through fifth grade with morning supervision, after-school care, literacy tutoring, homework help, a daily snack and recreation. For grades 6–12, staff proposed a reduced model that provides a supervised room for students until evening practices begin.
During the presentation staff described several funding efforts: pursuing a roughly $100,000 literacy grant and recent notice of a $25,000 planning grant for a summer program. Staff also gave a cost estimate for continuing programming, saying it could be “about $150,000” but later added it might be closer to “106,000,” noting the figures were preliminary.
Committee member moved to approve the after-school program plan for the 2026–27 school year; the motion was seconded and carried by voice/show of hands. The motion authorizes staff to utilize rainy-day funds for one year as described and to continue pursuing grant opportunities; no precise dollar amount from reserves was recorded in the motion.
Board members and staff emphasized the importance of the program to families who rely on after-school care and said they would attempt to reduce costs (for example by surveying families about end-of-day pickup needs) and seek other grants to offset reserve use. The staff presentation noted that some evening bus routes would likely be discontinued because they are underused.
Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff will continue grant applications and return to the board with any updates; the board did not set a specific sunset date beyond the one-year authorization discussed at the meeting.
