Akron Public Schools' Helen Arnold CLC to lose its Boys and Girls Club

An Akron school is losing an afterschool program that has acted as an extended academic day for students while also serving as a safe place for children to stay into the evening.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio announced on Wednesday that due to a lack of funding, a number of programs will close across the region, including one in Summit County at Helen Arnold Community Learning Center .

Only 27 of the 49 programs that were in operation last year will continue this year, according to a news release.

"Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio left open the possibility of restoring operations at some sites during the school year if funding — including a pending request from the state — becomes available," the release said.

The nonprofit said it had been trying to close a $3 million gap that was created by the "unexpected loss of federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and leftover pandemic relief dollars."

A recent fundraising campaign brought in more than $700,000, helping to secure some programs, but "the revenue was not enough to overcome the loss of federal funds," according to the release.

Four other programs in Akron, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls will continue.

The news of the closure comes as the Akron community grapples with how to keep kids engaged in school and safe in the hours they are out of school. City and schools officials have long touted programs like Boys and Girls Clubs as key to doing both. Helen Arnold is also a school that just recently improved enough academically to end state oversight.

Akron district officials declined to comment on the program closure.

Helen Arnold's program was going into its fourth year, serving up to 70 kids every day in the Sherbondy Hill neighborhood. It operated from 2:30-6 p.m.

"My parents are going to be devastated, because they depended upon that," Helen Arnold Principal Lamonica Davis said.

School starts next week, and the closure may have parents scrambling to find after-school care.

Davis said Helen Arnold will still offer Akron After School, but that program does not run the entire school year, like Boys and Girls Club did, and only goes until 5 p.m. The number of slots available depends on the number of teachers who agree to stay on after school. Akron After School has never had more than 60 kids, Davis said, but over 70 were enrolled in Boys and Girls Club. Some students did both, joining Boys and Girls Club after Akron After School ended.

Davis said Boys and Girls Club, which also offered summer programming, was an extension of the day at Helen Arnold, wrapping in fun activities with academics in line with what kids were doing in school each day.

"It was based on the curriculum of our school," Davis said. "It followed through the academic and social-emotional (learning.) It was an extended school day for our kids."

Helen Arnold parent Jabries Poole was saddened to hear the news of the program's closure. She said it was good for her 10-year-old son, who has been an only child most of his life, to have more time with his peers, working on his social skills and making friends.

It was also good for her, as a single working mom, to have a free place for him to stay after school. Poole said she usually finishes work at 5 p.m.

"That gave me enough time after I got off work to at least get myself together, have a little peace time myself," she said.

Any time she tried to take her son, Cartier Rucker, out of the program early, she said he didn't want to leave.

"He'll be like, 'I wanted to stay! I wanted to stay 'til the end!'" she said.

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Public Schools' Helen Arnold CLC to lose its Boys and Girls Club