INDIANAPOLIS — Parents in need of after-school care for their kids may soon have relief. Indianapolis Public Schools announced an initiative Thursday that will expand the program for children in Pre-K up to the fifth grade.
According to school administrators, only 33% of students across the district can be placed in after-school care because there aren’t enough openings.
“A lot of kids are going home alone,” said Phillip Carroll, of At Your School (AYS). “They’re not getting snacks or food.”
Parents must put students on a waiting list if they want to get in the program. That is largely because of understaffing.
“A lot of our parents are concerned, 'When is the waitlist going to be lifted? How do I get into the program?’” Carroll said.
AYS is one of the groups partnering with Indianapolis Public Schools to make sure kids don't go home alone.
Currently, there are 15 after-school programs across the school district. The plan is to add 10 more next school year. School officials believe this new initiative will help achieve that goal.
“We’ve really started working with our partners on not only just being a day care provider, but offering enrichment programs like tutoring and after-school activities,” said Mary Siefert, director of student engagement at IPS.
Siefert said the district is also working to address the staffing issue to begin to eliminate the waiting lists.
“We’ve been engaging with our own staff to see if we can launch opportunities for our own staff to work with our partners before and after school,” she said.
The overall goal is to have after-school care in every building across the district.
The district partners with multiple youth agencies including, AYS, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, the MLK Center, and the Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis among others.