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Kickstart Kids urges Pflugerville ISD to restore after-school practice, warns of enrollment minimum that could cancel campuses
Summary
Kickstart Kids representatives told the Pflugerville ISD board the program needs after-school practices restored and district help to meet a 125-student minimum per campus or risk midyear cancellations; the organization said technical issues and a hurricane delayed its receipt of the enrollment requirement.
Representatives of Kickstart Kids told the Pflugerville ISD Board of Trustees on Aug. 15 that the youth martial-arts program needs district cooperation to sustain and expand on-campus offerings.
Jason Shartuni, regional director for Kickstart Kids, said the organization operates on three Pflugerville campuses (Pflugerville, Westview and Dessau) and asked the board to consider restoring after-school practice sessions and opening those sessions to 5th graders at nearby feeder elementary schools to create a recruitment pathway. "It will allow us to serve more students in the district," Shartuni said, adding that early engagement could create a path to a black belt by the end of eighth grade.
Joan Newhouse, the program's executive director, said the contract under consideration requires enrollment of 125 students on each campus or the campus can be canceled at midyear. She presented survey results in a handout and stated, "at least 98 percent of the students reported a positive personal growth as a result of participating in our program, and over 70 percent reported that it had a big impact." Newhouse told trustees the program faced three obstacles to meeting the 125-student threshold this season: (1) the kickstartkids.org recruitment email was being blocked by the district's email server; (2) counselors did not consistently enroll recruited students into the class sections; and (3) the notice about the 125-student minimum was emailed July 3 and, Newhouse said, a hurricane disrupted power and Internet access until July 11, leaving only three weeks before school started.
The board discussed the Kickstart Kids contract in the context of other outside-provider requests. Board president asked whether the district had considered bringing the program in-house to expand capacity and reduce per-coach costs; the president observed the contract under consideration proposed $234,000 to pay three instructors (about $78,000 per coach) and asked staff to explore whether a district-run model or job-sharing approach could be feasible. Dr. Shepherd said he would "find out more" and make sure trustees have the factual background so the district is not misrepresented.
What the board heard and next steps Kickstart Kids asked trustees for (a) restoration of after-school practice time, (b) permission or mechanisms to recruit 5th graders at feeder elementaries, and (c) district assistance with counselor enrollment procedures and communication channels. The program's contract was on the meeting agenda for consideration; trustees asked staff to provide additional information about contracting processes and how outside providers are vetted.
(Reporting note: program survey results and the claim that the district blocked the program's recruitment email were presented by Kickstart Kids representatives in public comment; the district said staff will investigate and report back.)
