How will Philly’s extended school day pilot work? Some parents still unsure

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With the school year beginning Monday in Philadelphia, some parents still have questions about how the city's extended school day pilot will work.

The city and school district are launching before and after school programs at 20 district and five charter schools, starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m.

"Students and parents on a voluntary basis in these schools will have the opportunity to have this programming available during the winter break, during the spring break when other folks are not in school buildings, and so that's a value-add," said District Superintendent Tony Watlington at Thursday night's school board meeting. "We intend to monitor carefully students’ attendance rates so we get feedback about this before and after school programming."

Former school board member Mallory Fix-Lopez, who has children at Childs Elementary, said during the public portion of the meeting that details about the programs were hard to come by.

"We don't know — what is the start date? The letter says Sept. 3, but providers have already communicated to OST [Out of School Time] families like myself in the program we're already in that it doesn't start until after that date," Fix-Lopez said.

"When do applications go out for preexisting programs where kids are already registered? Such as mine, who are already registered for aftercare. Do I need to register them again for before care, for the other programs?" she asked.

In a statement to KYW Newsradio, Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Communications Director Joe Grace responded that the programs begin Sept. 3, and that enrollment begins during the week of Aug. 26. He said parents would need to re-enroll their children for this school year, and that registration for before and after school programs would be separate.

Grace said the offerings would be different at each participating school because enrichment programs were selected by principals to meet the needs of their schools.