When school's out, class is in

Demand is up but funding is shaky for afternoon programs

Tess Mason does not know what she would do without the after-school program her son attends.

"I think it's really positive," she said. "It keeps the children off the streets."

Mason drives a school bus for St. Mary's public schools and does not get home for several hours after her son's middle school lets out. If her seventh-grade son, Tyrone, 12, went straight home, she said, there would be too many opportunities for him to get involved in "bad things" on the streets of her Lexington Park neighborhood.

The Spring Ridge Middle School program he attends is hosted by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maryland. In addition to a variety of activities the program offers, her son gets help with his homework. Mason relies on the low cost of the after-school program, which runs five days a week and includes bus transportation.

"That one-time fee is awesome. With all the different things that they do, it's really worth it," she said. Some programs have an annual fee of $25, and others are free. Chess, drumming, dancing, robotics and fitness are among the activities offered.

As parents work second jobs or longer hours, the school system is experiencing more demand for after-school programs, said Mark Smith, coordinator for special programs for the St. Mary's public schools. At the same time, funding for after-school programs is more precarious.

"We have had some [budget] cuts," Smith said. But through restructuring programs and thanks to grants, "we're not in bad shape."

A grant from the Maryland State Department of Education funds after-school programs for about 600 children at George Washington Carver, Lexington Park, Park Hall and Green Holly elementary schools, as well as Spring Ridge, Great Mills High School and the Carver Recreation Center.

An additional 400 to 500 children are involved in other after-school programs funded by the St. Mary's school system, county government and other grant sources, Smith said.

St. Mary's public schools showcased the variety of after-school programs Oct. 20 in a Lights On Afterschool celebration that drew more than 400 visitors, Smith said. The Spring Ridge and Carver school rhythm clubs performed on stage at Carver, as did the Great Mills High gospel choir and the Green Holly step club.