CMS classrooms are closed, but the Y wants them for childcare
YMCA seeks space for additional programs, with 10 of 12 branches full
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Huge demand for daytime programs while parents work; Superintendent says buildings ‘could be used for that’
Here’s a tidbit that will come as a head-scratcher: Community groups like the YMCA of Greater Charlotte are hustling to ramp up programs for children who will need supervision during remote learning, and there’s a chance they’ll be using — wait for it — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools buildings for those programs.
The YMCA quickly exhausted most of the 750 slots in a “Back to School” program it announced earlier this month, where students will be supervised all day during remote learning. Of the 12 area branches where the YMCA has already opened up registration, 10 branches already have waitlists, said Adrianne Hobbs, executive director of youth development for the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. Only two branches, in Lincoln County, still have slots available.
“We are actively looking for additional locations to be able to provide more program space for our students because we know there are so many families that need help and we’re trying to support our school systems as best we can,” Hobbs told The Ledger. “We’re trying to work closely with schools, we’re trying to work closely with churches, to find appropriate space.
“We are working closely and we’re in continuous communications with our connections at CMS, as well as at our other school districts we serve,” Hobbs said. “So much of the use of the buildings depends upon whether students are currently allowed into the facility or not. So we hope to have some answers soon. But in order for us to be in CMS, there’s obviously many people who have to make that decision.”
Asked by The Ledger on Thursday about the possibility of community groups using CMS schools, Superintendent Earnest Winston sounded open to the idea:
We are having discussions currently about the very thing you have just alluded to. While we are continuing to have those conversations with staff, and will be sharing some information with our board members pretty soon in that regard, it would be a little premature right now for me to go into specifics. But we certainly want to make sure that our students are taken care of, and that they’re able to function in a safe environment. Potentially, our buildings could be used for that. So stay tuned.
Huge need: Certainly, there’s an enormous need for working parents with young children to have their children supervised during remote learning. Other area non-profits, like the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs, are also searching for extra spaces around the county where they can expand daytime programs and care for kids who cannot be home alone.
But after the drama that’s been the will-we-or-won’t-we in regards to opening school buildings to students this fall and the societal fallout that could come from keeping them shut for a prolonged period of time, the idea of opening school buildings might not sit well with some people.
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