Weekly Media Roundup: July 31, 2024

A North Texas School District is Offering a Free Dinner Program for Students This Year, WFAA (Texas)

This fall, Fort Worth Independent School District is partnering with Sodexo to provide free dinners at its afterschool enrichment programs. “We are excited about the opportunities this partnership with Sodexo provides. We know that nutrition is an integral part of the learning process, and we are committed to ensuring that our students have access to healthy menu options that taste great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” Deputy Superintendent Kellie Spencer told WFAA. The meal program is available to all students attending Fort Worth district schools, even if they are not enrolled in the afterschool program.

Beyond the Bell: New Program from The Opportunity Project Supports the Education Workforce and Families Through After-School Programs, Tulsa World (Oklahoma)

As many as 375 of the 450 afterschool programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma are in jeopardy of closing their doors this fall due to the expiration of federal COVID relief funding. To offset these closures, the Opportunity Project’s Tulsa EnrichED is providing funding to schools to start their own afterschool programs. “Our mission is to ensure all Tulsa youth have access to safe, dynamic and engaging after-school and summer programs,” says Lauren Sivak, The Opportunity Project’s executive director, told Tulsa World. “We are committed to stewarding resources thoughtfully, equitably and effectively to enhance youth success in and out of the classroom.”

Can Schools Meet the Demand for Summer Learning as Funding Runs Out?, Education Week

In a recent poll conducted by Gallup for the National Summer Learning Association and American Camp Association, nearly half of parents said their children did not participate in a summer learning program last year – and more than two in five said cost was a major barrier. Now, as federal COVID relief funds wind down, advocates worry the summer opportunity gap will grow even wider. “We think about 5 million more students have been able to attend programs because of those COVID dollars,” Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant told Education Week.  “But those are about to expire, so I am concerned.”

Minnesota Is a Good Place for Children, But We Can Still Do Better, Minnesota Reformer (Minnesota)

Minnesota was ranked fifth for child well-being in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2024 KIDS COUNT report. In a recent guest column for the Minnesota Reformer, Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota Director Alisha Porter celebrates the ranking while arguing the state must continue to improve education, for which it ranked 19^th, by addressing chronic absenteeism and increasing access to out-of-school time programs. “For every child in an after school program in Minnesota, there were three more children in the state who wanted to participate in similar programs but could not,” Porter writes. “Minnesota must invest more in out-of-school learning grant programs. We must consider making permanent and increasing these grants, so such academic supports can make a sustained impact.”