After School Program

If a school approves and endorses a request, District authorization is still required to ensure legal compliance, safety, and consistency across all sites. These groups will need to use the facilities during times when there is not After School programming.  This may include mornings, weekends, and school days after 6pm. All third-party groups must follow the process outlined in Board Policy and Administrative Regulation (AR) 1330:

• Step 1: Request site approval using the proper District form.
• Step 2: Obtain District-level authorization. The District's Business Services Department ensures insurance and legal requirements are met, and the District's Educational Services Department confirms program alignment with District and Board goals and priorities.

The District created its plan for Expanded Learning Opportunity Program (ELOP) funds, and that plan is posted on our website.

The District uses a process called Request for Proposals (RFP) to select vendors/agencies/services. The RFP includes a description of the services desired, and it is then published in a newspaper of general circulation, and also posted it to the District's website. Those agencies that submit a proposal are then considered by a committee of staff and community members. Their recommendations are reviewed and then a selection is made and presented to the Board of Trustees.

Once the Board approves the hiring of a vendor, the District can renew or extend their contracts for up to five years. The After School vendors ELEVO, EDMO, Jump Enterprises, Hartnell College, Forxa, Yogativity and Hijos del Sol were all selected through this process. Their contracts are part of the public record in the board meeting minutes. Smaller contracts—those under $119,000—can be temporarily made, if needed and funds are available.

All staff who work for SCESD in any capacity, whether District employees or vendor employees, must complete the LiveScan fingerprinting process and a criminal background check.

Staff receives a variety of training that is ongoing throughout the year, both through the District and through their own agencies. The District provides training for the Expanded Learning staff through professional development days before school starts, before each intersession and summer program, and several additional days throughout the year. After School staff also attends monthly staff meetings with the District for ongoing support.

There are a variety of enrichment opportunities that take place during After School, including homework support. In order to have students participate in all of the activities, the program runs on a rotation schedule and that means all groups can't do homework at once. Some students may start After School with homework, and some may end with it.

Teachers may remain in their classrooms for 45 minutes after the day's instructional time ends, so they may prepare lessons and do other necessary, important work on behalf of their students for the coming days. If a student requests to meet with their teacher after the final bell, the teacher would accommodate that request.

The District's Local Control & Accountability Plan (LCAP) also provides for teachers and staff to lead groups focused on Student Leadership (for example, Student Council) and Academic Acceleration (for example, intensive tutoring to prepare for state testing).

While Expanded Learning is considered a general education environment, the District believes in inclusion and welcomes all students to the After School Program. The Expanded Learning Department works closely with our Special Education Department to meet the needs of students. The District provides training to staff on how to support all students, and the District's Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and Special Education specialists also provide similar training to After School staff.

Every effort is made to add students to a group as quickly as possible, but at some sites, the District may need to get more staff in place before adding students. That's because the District must maintain ratios of 20-to-1 for grades 1-6, and 10-to-1 for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students.

Parents are always welcome to call the Expanded Learning Department to learn how long it may take to have their child placed into the program.

This is not a change in the policy. Rather, it's an alignment with, and an enforcement of, District policies already in place. There are several other issues worth understanding, though, that help explain this alignment and enforcement:

• State Mandate: Expanded Learning Opportunities Programs (ELOP) such as After School are required by the State of California and must be available to all students. The Salinas City Elementary School District is monitored and must be in compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations.
• Increased Scrutiny of District Programs: The District cannot be arbitrary, or even appear to be arbitrary, in granting permission for groups to use facilities during times that have school programming. 
• Program Schedule: Responding to feedback from families and students, there are now several new programs added as part of our After School offerings.  These additional programs require both additional resources and additional spaces. The programs run until 6pm during the school week and focus on academic support, physical activity, enrichment, and social-emotional learning.
  
  These additional programs now include:
• Small-group, high-impact tutoring;
• Expanded, District-organized intramural sports for all students in grades 3–6, including basketball, volleyball, flag football, and soccer;
• World dance, including folklórico, open to all interested students;
• Expanded Invention Convention and Film Festival meant to engage all students, with a focus on advanced learners and creative thinkers.