Leon County’s after-school program is once again looking to the local Children’s Services Council for help propping up its budget. That move comes after the state last week informed 27 counties, including Leon, that they stand to lose nearly a third of their afterschool funding.
Word of the funding change arrived on the first day of school. It meant the district was now facing a half-million-dollar budget hole.
During a school board meeting the next day, board member Rosanne Wood and Early Childhood Curriculum Director Brooke Brunner expressed shock at the news.
“I just don’t understand how — school started yesterday — and how we can be getting this information now,” said Wood.
"We share the same sentiment," said Brunner.
“That’s just unbelievable to me that the state could do that to us," Wood said. "I mean, it’s just unbelievable.”
“We’re going to do our very best to take care of our children," said Brunner, "and we’ll work through this on the back end.”
Children’s Services Council Executive Director Cecka Rose Green has already informed the district the council will help fill the budget shortfall.
The council had promised to help fund the program earlier this year when a move from the federal government froze all the funds for the afterschool program. Those funds were later released, causing Leon’s school board to believe the program was fully funded. Rose Green says she’ll work with the district to determine what the funding need is now.
