BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Some parents are crossing their fingers in hopes that the Buffalo Public Schools will be able to provide summer school this year for students in kindergarten through 6th grade.
Lakeshia Hayes, a mother of seven, says she’s worried if the district decides to cancel summer school this year for students like her eight-year-old daughter.
“It's a disadvantage for the kids because they won’t have anything to do,” Hayes says. “Like I have my daughter who needs help with certain areas in school that I can't help her with."
7 News reporter Yoselin Person went to the Delavan Grider Community Center to see if they have any plans to be a backup in case this decision by BPS were to happen.
Executive director Candace Moppins shared that the center has been a vendor of the ‘Say Yes Buffalo’ summer camp program to help prevent summer learning loss for students in grammar school.
“So we're hoping that organizations like myself and faith case organizations will rally with ‘Say Yes Buffalo’ to provide summer camp enrichment and academic support to our Buffalo students,” she says.
A spokesperson for the Buffalo Public Schools says this in a statement:
“Although there are many moving parts connected to the budget, no final decisions have been made because we are still analyzing and finalizing numbers. Also, the New York State budget hasn’t been passed yet. Later this month, a budget update will be presented to the Board of Education. Dr. Williams is working to mitigate staff layoffs as much as possible.”
“As a whole, we see all across the nation where education of all levels is struggling after COVID," Moppins says. "So I think it’s hard nationwide and budgets, taxes, and inflation are all catching up and thrown in the same mix which leads to making difficult decisions sometimes."
WATCH: ‘We need these dollars’: Proposed state education cuts jeopardizing schools
The Buffalo Public Schools District must cut $90 million from the 2024-2025 budget by June 30, due to funding it received through the American Rescue Plan running out.
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Other parents are holding on to hope that BPS will provide summer classes for the students.
“So to take it away will waste a lot of minds because you’ll kill their drive to socialize,” says Barbara Goodrum. “So when it’s time for them to go back to school, I think it will cause a ripple effect for mental health issues and depression.”
