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Public commenters press Escambia Children's Trust on Pensacola OST spending; city official defends program results
Summary
At the board meeting, a resident questioned the city'of'Pensacola's use of prior OST funds and possible TIF/back tax demands, while Chain Reaction and the city's parks director described program successes and ongoing spending.
Public comment at the Escambia Children's Trust meeting centered on how out'of'school time (OST) funds have been used in the City of Pensacola and whether prior awards remain unspent.
Jermaine Williams, speaking as a private citizen, said the Trust previously awarded about $1.6 million to the city for after'school programming and that "about 716,000 of that was used," leaving "roughly $1,000,000 just sitting there unused." He also asserted that the city had paid some back taxes and was now demanding additional TIF'related payments, asking the board, "what is the policy on awarding more money when previous funding already exists, and how is the city accounting for that unused $1,000,000?" No detailed accounting or formal response from city finance staff is recorded in the meeting transcript.
Christian Fairchild, introduced to the board as speaking regarding Chain Reaction, thanked the Trust for earlier investment and described program successes. He told the board Chain Reaction is not requesting Trust funds at this meeting but is working to replace about $173,000 over the next five months and will return to the board if additional support is needed.
Tanya Bird, director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Pensacola, presented the city's OST status and defended the program's use of funds. Bird said the city was awarded $1.7 million in the first OST round and has spent $1.2 million to date, and that "we anticipate that we will finish the year spending the entire budget that we asked for this year." She described program changes that move beyond basic supervision to include social'emotional learning, STEAM activities, homework help and tutoring.
Board members thanked the speakers and noted the value of public participation. Dr. Northup and program staff subsequently described ongoing grant review work and emphasized that program committee reviewers had closely vetted applicants; the Trust scheduled additional program committee review on May 29 before bringing final recommendations to the June board meeting.
Claims raised in public comment about the city's accounting for prior awards and any TIF/back tax demands were not resolved at this meeting and will require follow'up with city financial records and Trust staff.
