Rally To Restore Afterschool Funds
Local residents rallied last Wednesday, May 9 to save the afterschool program at P.S. 150 in Sunnyside from a loss of city funding.
According to Sunnyside Community Services (SCS) Executive director Judy Zangwill and SCS’ Monica Guzman, the center did not receive funding to continue the program at the school, located at 40-01 43rd Ave., next year.
In a phone interview with the Times Newsweekly, Zangwill explained that the city asked programs across the city to resubmit new requests for proposals, with certain ZIP codes being “targeted” for more afterschool programs.
As the school’s ZIP code, 11104, was not a target location, Zangwill added, “we weren’t confident” that the program would receive funding.
SCS’ other afterschool program, at P.S. 199 (located at 39-20 48th Ave.), did receive funding despite also being in the 11104 ZIP code.
The program, which was started in 1983, offers services that Guzman claimed low income families “wouldn’t be able to avail themselves of,” such as homework aid, lessons in dance and karate, and gym time.
Zangwill noted that 65 percent of the students qualify for the school lunch program, and added that many students come from single-parent households or homes where both family members work. The decision to close the program could affect their work schedule.
“I always say that I don’t understand how this is a fiscally prudent decision,” she stated.
If the funding is not restored, the program may continue at a substantially smaller scale, with only 50 to 60 students instead of its current enrollment of 200, and parents being required to chip in for the program’s costs.
The P.S. 150 Parent-Teacher Association will hold a meeting on Thursday, May 24 at 8:30 a.m. in the school to discuss the matter, with Zangwill and Guzman expected to be in attendance as well as City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who was at the May 9 rally.
