Boys & Girls Clubs will continue at MLSD

MOSES LAKE — Officials from the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin and the Moses Lake School District are scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding later this week allowing the operation of the Boys and Girls Clubs locations at four MLSD elementary schools.

Boys and Girls Clubs Executive Director Kim Pope said sustaining the program will require some fundraising, but it will be up and running at the four elementary schools next Tuesday.

The Boys and Girls Club will provide after-school programs for children at North, Larson Heights, Longview and Midway elementary schools beginning Sept. 3. The after-school program at Endeavor Middle School was eliminated due to low attendance, Pope said. Endeavor students who want to be in the after-school program will be transported to the McGraw Clubhouse next to Park Orchard Elementary.

The after-school programs at the elementary schools are offered at no charge to families, she said.

Pope and a group of club board members met with MLSD officials Monday, after Pope’s comments at the Aug. 22 Moses Lake School Board meeting. The follow-up meeting, Pope said, provided some clarity.

“We found out there was some miscommunication along the way,” she said.

The club has been sponsoring in-school programs for a long time, Pope said, about eight years in all four schools. The nonprofit had a contract with MLSD, which for 2023-24 was about $200,000 they received to provide that programming.

However, the rejection of an educational programs and operations levy request in April compounded with accounting discrepancies prompted district officials to cancel the contract as a cost-cutting measure. While district officials are willing to let the Boys and Girls Clubs continue to use district facilities, they will be charged a fee. Pope said Boys and Girls Clubs originally believed the fee would be about $300,000.

The actual fee total is around $109,000, Pope said. Less than half of the amount she’d been told would apply, though it is still challenging.

“That’s still a lot for us,” she said.

For their part, MLSD officials believed the Boys and Girls Clubs did not plan to offer the in-school programs, Pope said.

“We were able to work through all of that,” she said. “A very positive, very productive meeting. We both want to do the best thing for the kids in our community.”

Boys and Girls Clubs officials will be working on fundraisers to cover the cost, she said. Among them is the annual auction scheduled for Oct. 5.

“Come On, Barbie, Let’s Go Party,” is the theme. It’s always a costume party, with the theme chosen by a successful bidder from the previous year’s auction. For 2024 participants are encouraged to wear Barbie-inspired costumes, or possibly something in hot pink.

Typically the money raised through the auction goes to operational expenses, but 2024 is an unusual year, Pope said.

“This is part of our operational expenses,’ she said.

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin executives will be looking for other fundraisers and grants to help with funding, she said, since the organization is entirely supported by donations.

“Everything we do is either a donation or a grant,” she said.