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On Tuesday, July 30, the Select Board meeting featured a lengthy and winding discussion about after school care in Sudbury. The conversation was initiated in response to a memo from Town Manager Sheehan, which the board had requested at a prior meeting.
Sheehan cautioned against the Town getting involved in after school care at this time, and called for the Town to stay out of the way of the efforts of Sudbury Public Schools and a local nonprofit, Sudbury Extended Day (SED), to solve the problem:
Sudbury Extended Day and the Sudbury Public Schools have an established multi-decade relationship. Both communicated their intent to continue working to find solutions to the extended day challenge. It is my recommendation we not disrupt those efforts to find a solution.
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Members opined about various facets of after school care, occasionally diving into the weeds with discussion of various spaces available for such programs, the types of programs that could be offered, and vendors that might be interested. As discussion got into debates about operational details, member Janie Dretler noted:
“Isn’t this something that a working group would be able to work on?”
Janie Dretler, Member — Sudbury Select board
A motion by Member Lisa Kouchakdjian to instruct the Town Manager to form a Town Manager’s Working Group was seconded by Member Janie Dretler and voted down 2-3 at the end of the conversation. The members opposed to the motion didn’t appear to rule out a similar action at a future date.
The board seemed to agree to discuss the topic again at an upcoming goal setting meeting. However, Town Manager Sheehan set a pretty clear expectation for any parents listening:
And I will say that I don’t see how this issue gets solved for the coming academic year. And I hope people aren’t expecting that or promising that, because that is a pretty tall task. I won’t say it’s, well, I think it’s an impossible task.
Andy Sheehan, Town Manager — Sudbury
Chair Jennifer Roberts echoed those sentiments in response, and then suggested that the issue could become a discussion item for goal setting for the next year:
So we are one month away from our goal setting session, in which case we will establish our high goals and priorities for the year, of which this may very well be one of them based on this conversation. And then shortly thereafter we will be setting the goals for Andy. Given that we know we’re not going to solve this in the next month, you know. Even 2 months ago there was no feasible way this was going to be solved for the upcoming fall…
Jennifer Roberts, Chair — Sudbury Select Board
Several members raised questions about the appropriate role of the Select Board with regard to this issue and relative to the role of the Sudbury Public Schools School Committee. The Select Board is often described primarily as a policy-setting board, and several members voiced deference to Sudbury Public Schools to deal with after school care. At the same time, almost everyone voiced opinions about what type of programming they would like to see created, and by whom. One entity loomed large in the discussions: Sudbury Extended Day.
Members went to significant lengths to laud the local nonprofit for their longstanding partnership with Sudbury Public Schools. Member Russo questioned if a supplemental for-profit vendor is even worth considering as he felt it would be more expensive to users than a nonprofit like Sudbury Extended Day. He instead advocated for a very small pilot program using the new van acquired by the Park and Recreation department:
And SED is, I believe, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. So you’re gonna have a program that’s going to, you know, potentially be a private for profit organization with a higher price to begin with, and then you layer the transportation off on top of that. You know, that seems like everybody kind of loses in that scenario, including the parents. The idea of getting the Park and Rec van up and going, trying to get more space activated in Fairbank, that to me seems seems like how you take the first bite out of the elephant.
Charlie Russo, Member — Sudbury Select Board
Chair Roberts described Sudbury Extended Day in glowing terms:
SED is working so hard right now, and they are such a wonderful organization to Sudbury. They are truly the bread and butter of our aftercare, and that needs to be acknowledged and recognized and supported.
Jennifer Roberts, Chair — Sudbury Select Board
Member Carty took it a step farther when Member Dretler voiced concern about including a vendor in a working group. Carty said he would not support a Town Manager’s Working Group if Sudbury Extended Day was not a part of the group:
The foremost authority on after school care in this town, without a doubt, is SED. And I think we’re missing out on not involving them, because I think they want to solve this problem as much as anybody else does. So if we’re cutting SED out, then I’m out.
Dan Carty, Vice-Chair — Sudbury Select Board
Early in the discussion, Member Kouchakdjian questioned the need to frame the issue around Sudbury Extended Day:
I just wanted to make it clear. I’m not hearing from community members that people want to do away with SED. You know. I’ve never used SED. Or any after school care for my children, I’ll just publicly disclose that. But I know as a former school committee member, the wonderful role that SED plays in our community, and it’s a great partner to SPS. I don’t think anyone is saying to do away with that. I think, when I’m talking to community members, what they’re looking for is a varied type of after school care, something different that’s not SED.
Lisa Kouchakdjian, Member — Sudbury Select Board
While Select Board was unable to chart a clear path forward, and a near-term solution appeared to be ruled out entirely, the memo from Sheehan indicated that Sudbury Public Schools is actively working on the issue.
The work allegedly happening at SPS has not been discussed in open meetings by the school committee, and a majority of the committee recently declined to put the topic on a future meeting agenda. Sudbury parents still scrambling to find afterschool care solutions remain largely in the dark on what SPS might be working on. But after Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, they know not to rely on the Town of Sudbury for any solutions this year.