2023 Arlington County Board Candidate Questionnaire
Question 5
How would you support working families whose children are in public school during APS days off and over extended school breaks? Further, will you ensure there are accessible activities and programs specifically for teens? If so, how?
Audrey Clement: In addition to the County’s annual General Fund revenue transfer to APS, the County Manager reported in his March 31, 2023 presentation that the County provides $10 million in services to the Schools, including money for: parks, athletic fields, clubs, camps, libraries and youth programming (p. 7). If elected, I will monitor the distribution of these funds to APS and urge my School Board counterparts to do the same. Again while County Board cannot compel the School Board to adopt a specific program or policy, it can operate jointly used facilities in ways that encourage their use by teens, such as extended hours for libraries and community centers.
Maureen Coffey: Professionally, my work is focused on the relationship between having child care and the ability to work. We know that when school or child care options are not available, working families - and most often, women - are forced to cut back on hours and earnings. This isn’t good for families who may already have tight finances, particularly in a place as expensive as Arlington, it’s disruptive for learning, and it creates stress for parents. We need to expand the offerings for enrichment on days off so that all parents who need a place for their children to go actually have an option. We also need to provide transportation solutions to minimize the barriers to participation.
I would be interested in investigating whether we could supplement our existing extended day staff by training high school juniors and seniors who may want an opportunity to earn money on days off. I do think that training and supervision would be integral to the success of this idea as we still have to prioritize health and safety above all, but having additional staff that can contribute toward our mandatory ratios may allow us to offer more options to families for these random days off where other options are limited.
Teens are more difficult. When I was the statewide Young Dems president, I worked with our Teen Dems across the state. Many feel independent enough that they likely do not want to be supervised or are uninterested in planned programming but they would still benefit from having options. Providing more independent programs, tutoring or instruction for those who need it, or unique experiential opportunities are ways that we can include our older kids on these days off.
Susan Cunningham: Locally and nationally, the pandemic crisis demonstrated just how fragile our childcare system is and how crucial it is to economic security. Whether full time care for younger children, emergency care, school holiday coverage, or summer camps, our economy and community depend on having accessible, affordable, and high-quality programs available.
As Executive Director at Arlington Thrive, I work with families facing financial crisis and with both local childcare providers and APS to ensure more of our lowest-income children are enrolled in affordable, high-quality childcare. While I was CEO at AHC, I helped expand our after school and summer programs for teens and youth in our committed affordable housing. And, as a parent of two APS students, I know well the scramble to cover days off and summer weeks with quality programs. Our county and schools can, and should, do more to meet these needs, especially as we reconnect youth following the pandemic disruptions and mental health emergencies. I will focus on several improvements:
● Spreading the word: There are already so many incredible programs available across the county for children and teens if they or their parents know where to look. We can help get this information out, meeting students and their parents where they are. Some of this is on-line, but some of it is communicating via text, whatsapp, PeachJar, median signs, and physical flyers at grocery stores, churches, libraries, and schools – in English, Spanish, Amharic, Mongolian and the many other languages spoken across our county. Teen influencers and community ambassadors can also be effective.
● Expanding program offerings: We need to add engaging programming, especially for teens – expanded recreation and library hours, structured volunteer opportunities, sports, arts, jobs, enrichment, and high dose tutoring. Last fiscal year (July 2022 - June 2023), participation in the parks department’s teen program dropped to an all time low of 3,300, down from more than 46,000 before COVID (July 2018 - June 2019). The county’s initial FY24 investment in a teen center pilot is a great place to start, especially working closely with the CCPTA, Teen Advisory Board and other influencers to formulate and pilot what teens and families feel they need. Today our recreation and nature centers are often closed on weekends and holidays, when our teens need them most (i.e., Drew Mon-Fri 6-9 pm; Langston Mon-Sat 9-5 pm. Long Branch 10-5 pm Tues/Fri/Sat)
● Meeting families where they are: We already have a proven, successful model in the Carlin Springs Community School, where families can access tutoring, after school sports, arts programs, healthcare, counseling, job training, parenting coaching, financial assistance, clothing, food, and other support as needed. This one-stop-shop approach enables efficient services and strengthens existing relationships with trusted community members. Expanding on this model, whether at schools or other facilities could better support our youth and families.
● Connecting kids to program offerings. Fees and transportation access can be a significant barrier to participation, especially for our children and teens from lower-income households. We can enhance our public transit network to better serve youth. I will invest in Metro and premium bus networks to improve frequency and hours of service.Combining some school bus and county bus routes could be one quick and cost-efficient way to enhance frequency, while enhancing job quality, compensation and benefits for our bus drivers. I strongly support tuning our transit system to ensure that our teenagers can travel to school, jobs, and recreation seamlessly.
● Investing in consistent, quality staff and sustained connection to caring adults. We could better serve our young people’s needs by ensuring consistent, high quality, trained staff throughout the year. This might look like combining forces to connect APS extended day staff with parks and recreation team so that compensation and benefits are consistent and more positions are year-round and full-time, with a compelling career ladder. It might also include attracting and sustaining high-demand hires (i.e., social workers, mental health specialists, teachers) through housing support and/or on-the-job training and certification. This will also help kids feel more consistently connected to adults, and ensure that we have coordinated care across all 52 weeks of the year.
Juan Carlos Fierro: Yes, I would support efforts to help working families with children in APS during days off or extended school breaks. What is needed is out of the box thinking about how to provide this support. One example is having Parks and Recreation organize activities for students from working families similar to how summer camps are offered for working families.
For teens, they could be offered counselor positions for these programs. Likewise, we could consider using underused facilities such as both Long Branch and Gulf Branch nature centers, which are currently opened for limited hours. Both nature centers could be opened for more hours, with special programs for teens to giving them leadership experience organizing programs for other teens, and as counselors for Park and Recreation programs for working families kids that could be based at nature centers.