Funding for extracurriculars have been slashed in many Philly schools, even as aftercare is touted by the city

Almost 40 students said they wanted to participate in Bodine High’s successful debate program this year.

But because of cuts to available funding for extracurricular programs at many district schools, it’s not guaranteed that a debate team can function at Bodine at all this year — even though the team recently made it to nationals and captured local titles and multiple individual awards.

”We worked all this time to build this up, and now they’re ending it because of money?” said Khader Moton, a Bodine senior and debate team captain. “Kids come to our school because of the extracurriculars we provide.”

It was no surprise that federal pandemic relief money, which bolstered schools’ ability to offer programming over the past three years, would run out this September. But even as city and district officials promised free before- and aftercare and robust enrichment at 25 schools beginning this fall, others say they were blindsided by late news that programming that had been paid for by the district’s central office would be eliminated.

One high school principal said they braced for the end of federal stimulus funds and planned accordingly, but didn’t find out until the summer that money for robotics, debate, and chess was ending, months after budgets were set — and never got word from district administration about it. Instead, they found out from organizations like After School Activities Partners and the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition, which had provided training and supplies and run activities, that their contracts were cut.

» READ MORE: After a Philly HS team won a robotics world championship, the district is cutting ties with the nonprofit it formed

“We can’t afford to maintain them, we hadn’t budgeted for it,” said the principal, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. “The programs are so valuable, so you want to try to figure this out. But they gave us no lead time at all.”

The principal is trying to stitch together funding to pay staff to run all clubs, but can’t promise miracles. That means some clubs would meet less frequently, or might have to end earlier in the year. It’s especially frustrating given a talking point often touted by district and city leaders: Giving kids things to do outside of class is important, not just from an enrichment standpoint, but from a safety perspective.

“We now have to make a decision: Do we pay for these [extracurricular hours] or do we pay for books, desks, copy paper, classroom supplies? What’s the trade-off? No one has a slush fund,” the principal said.

Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said the sunset of pandemic relief prompted the school system to “make an intentional decision to sustain” clubs run by outside vendors “with a focus on kindergarten through eighth-grade opportunities in up to 40 schools. We are actively looking to explore a wide variety of robust opportunities to enrich student experiences.”

At Bodine, the available extracurricular budget — not including sports, which is funded separately and was not affected — is just 25% of what it was last year, now just over $4,000 for the school’s nearly 500 students, said teacher Lauren Geschel, the debate team coach, and teachers David Fischer and Laura Williams, the robotics coaches.

“Even the clubs that are getting some EC money aren’t getting much at all. It gets less and less every year,” said Geschel. Clubs are getting less than they got even before the pandemic relief money boosted opportunities, she said.

Geschel, Fischer, and Williams were told there’s no money to pay them for coaching their teams. Geschel loves her students, but running the club means she has to pay for childcare for her daughter, so coaching would cost her money.

Williams has found grants to cover a little more than half of the team’s materials and travel expenses, but robotics is time-consuming and expensive relative to other activities, and it’s not clear where the rest will come from. Bodine’s robotics team, too, has been wildly successful, earning the “Rookie All Star” award and a berth in the prestigious national competition in Houston last year, its first year in the FIRST Robotics League.

“We’re trying to find a corporate sponsor to save our robotics program,” Williams said. “That may pan out, but if it does, it’s just one school. There are a lot of schools that aren’t running robotics this year, because they don’t have supplies or money for support.”

Geschel also sees an equity problem.

“I’m not even sure how they’re going to run the Philly Debate League,” said Geschel, speaking about the citywide league run by After School Activities Partners. “Even if we get funding, who’s going to be there?”

Student Julianna Tejada moved to Philadelphia from New York last year, and found her place at Bodine through the robotics team; she runs the team’s business side now. She worries about the long-term implications of cuts — robotics kids got the chance not just to attend a national competition; they also received college opportunities via scholarships.

“They’re lowering opportunities for students to find things they’re passionate about,” said Tejada, a senior.

Sydney Le, another senior, said joining robotics shaped her future plans. She loves the ability to innovate and the warm community she’s found.

“I would not have picked to major in [science, technology, engineering and math] if I didn’t do robotics,” she said. Bodine, a city magnet school, mostly educates students of color — 88% of its students are Black, Latinx, Asian, or multiracial — and almost three-quarters come from economically disadvantaged households, and robotics gives those students a window to an upwardly mobile future.

“The STEM community isn’t so big on minorities, and it’s very male-dominated,” said Le. “This is taking away opportunities for minority people and women.”

Williams and Fischer have seen robotics give kids who were struggling academically or socially a reason to come to school, they said. They have seen it propel kids to take higher-level courses to gain skills they use in robotics competitions.

“These are the programs that give space for kids who might have a hard time feeling safe or belonging,” said Williams. “If we lose these programs, where are these kids going to go? Who are they going to be?”

While some schools never had much in the way of after-school programming, others worked in the last few years to build up clubs, said Walette Carter, president of the citywide Home and School Council.

But now, “I’ve been hearing about club cuts. Things aren’t being coached or sponsored as some of them have been in the past.”

C.W. Henry, a neighborhood elementary in Mount Airy, is also struggling with fewer opportunities for students. The available pool of extracurricular money means the school can offer fewer clubs, or have existing clubs not meet as often.

Kim Massare, a Henry parent and president of the PTA, is frustrated by the situation citywide. Teachers put significant effort into building up after-school opportunities for children, activities from drama and broadcasting to debate and yearbook; it’s not fair to ask them to run the clubs without being paid, Massare said.

“Instead of growing these programs, teachers are having to think about how to scale back, and that’s just not fair. Why can’t we think of a way to fund these after-school programs that students love and look forward to? That build equity?” Massare said.

At Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy in Southwest Center City, 70 students raised their hands to participate in robotics, run by digital literacy teacher Trey Smith. The school has 13 teams this year, up from three last year.

With central funding for the program disappearing, Smith is fundraising and dipping into his own pocket on top of working unpaid hours to make after-school robotics happen.

The nonprofit friends group affiliated with Marian Anderson agreed to shoulder some costs, covering most teams’ registration. Smith paid one team’s registration himself; a grant paid for another. He ran a Donors Choose campaign to cover the extra robotics kits for the additional kids who signed up, and bought another kit on his own because the team needed it fast. His principal found a grant for more kits.

But this “isn’t sustainable long term,” Smith said. “I’m just trying to make the case for programming and figure out the costs so I can be transparent about that with my school community and the district. I don’t know what schools with fewer resources are doing.”