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NYC Schools Are In Full Swing But Afterschool Programs Struggle To Find Enough Staffing
By
Sophia Chang
Published Oct 2, 2021
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CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Shutterstock
By
Sophia Chang
Published Oct 2, 2021
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New York City’s public schools reopened nearly three weeks ago, but many afterschool programs are still struggling to find enough staffers to run their offerings this fall, leaving families to seek alternate options.
A week ago, Alie Cohen received an email from her kids’ school, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, saying an afterschool program for 150 kids was cancelled, and parents would have to make other arrangements immediately.
“It's definitely a huge surprise and a huge scramble for us as parents,” Cohen said.
Ronny Schindler, the founder of Kids Orbit, which ran the afterschool program for Brooklyn Prospect, declined to comment on the specifics of that contract, but said hiring has been difficult. One reason, he says, is because many of the actors, freelancers, and artists who typically make up a large portion of his employee base aren’t living in New York anymore.
“The musicians and people doing auditions, many of them are just starting to come back to the city, and they were a big part: 30 to 40% of our staff members, because it's a part-time position,” Schindler said. “That is coming back, but it's kind of at a very slow rate.”
One staff member at University Settlement, a social service organization that runs afterschool programs at 17 public schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan, said part of the issue was finding qualified employees who were vaccinated.
Staff who work at the city-run afterschool programs COMPASS, Beacon and Cornerstone, or work at an afterschool program inside a city Department of Education building, are subject to the city’s vaccination mandate that requires proof of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or face being placed on unpaid leave. On Friday afternoon, the DOE said at least 90% of DOE employees, or about 133,000 out of 148,000 people, have gotten vaccinated.
“It's really hard to find qualified candidates to even apply for open positions,” said the University Settlement staff member, who didn’t want to be identified because he’s not authorized to speak to the press.
“Right now, we have about 40 staff in our youth division between Manhattan and Brooklyn that are currently not vaccinated. And it's had a huge impact on our programming,” he said.
Caroline Patterson, executive director of Bitty City Players which runs two afterschool programs in Brooklyn, said she also encountered unvaccinated applicants.
“I would find very qualified people and thought I hit the jackpot, and then I realized why they weren't already employed in education because they weren't vaccinated,” she said. “That cut down a lot on candidates I was interested in.” She says she typically hires 10 teachers per program and this year she only has six teachers for two programs.
Aside from the vaccination mandate, the work is intense and low-paying, the University Settlement staffer acknowledged: “it's hard for us to compete with some of the retail stores and some of the other private companies that are able to pay a higher hourly rate, and the work is really hard,” he said.
Patterson said she’s had to change her criteria for recruiting staff to now include candidates without college degrees. “I wasn't even looking at [...] people who hadn't graduated college, and I’ve started looking now at people who are still in college,” she said.
The beginning of every school year usually means adjustment periods for afterschool programs including staffing challenges, DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said, and pointed out the city is offering as many afterschool programs as it has in previous years.
The Department of Youth & Community Development, which offers three city-run afterschool programs, said enrollment was robust this year because of the return of in-person learning, with more than 90,000 kids enrolled in the more than 900 COMPASS programs alone.
“While COVID-19 impacted enrollment levels at DYCD-funded afterschool programs at the height of the pandemic, programs have not been reduced,” said Mark Zustovich, spokesperson for the DYCD. “In fact, with in-person services fully underway this school year, we anticipate reaching full enrollment at more than a thousand COMPASS, Beacon and Cornerstone afterschool programs.”
Tagged
vaccine mandate
schools reopening
afterschool program
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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