By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
BATTERY PARK CITY — The city’s budget woes just hit I.S. 289’s after-school program with a one-two punch that left parents and staff reeling.
The city slammed the popular middle school program with a 14 percent budget cut halfway through the school year, then, more recently announced that the program would not receive any funding next year.
"We’re frustrated and we’re upset," said Karen Gibbs, treasurer of the school’s PTA. "It’s such a valuable resource. The idea that the city thinks it’s all right to cut it is extremely frustrating."
The free, five-day-a-week after-school program, run by Manhattan Youth, serves about 200 of I.S. 289's 300 students and runs all of the sports teams, theater productions and activities like homework help, organizers say.
The city put the program on the chopping block last year, saying it didn't need funding because it is located in a wealthy Battery Park City zip code. But I.S. 289's students come from all over Manhattan and at least 40 percent qualify for a free lunch, staff said.
A last-minute City Council deal in June restored $120,000 to help run the program this year, but the city came back later with a 14 percent mid-year cut, which could force Manhattan Youth to lay off staff and reduce the number of children served. Next year, the city has said it won't provide the program with any money, leaving it to fend for itself.
"We’re working to make up the shortfall any way we can," said Theseus Roche, Manhattan Youth’s after-school director.
To help the program absorb the budget cut, Roche will close the program on seven holidays when it was previously required to remain open, but that alone won't be enough to close the gap, he said.
Roche said he does not want to charge students to attend, because many of their families would not be able to afford a fee.
I.S. 289’s PTA is now trying to raise money privately and recently received a large anonymous donation that will be helpful this spring, Gibbs said.
May Chin, director of state and federal intergovernmental affairs for the city Department of Youth and Community Development, said there is no extra money in the city’s budget to support the program.
"We understand your plight, we do," Chin told Community Board 1’s Youth and Education Committee Tuesday night, before the committee unanimously passed a resolution calling on the city to restore the funding.
Gibbs, a Battery Park City resident, said she and the rest of the PTA are going to continue fighting.
"We’ve got to do whatever possible to keep it up and running," she said.
