Lights On program changes

The Lights On Afterschool program will be making significant changes during the 2016-17 school year due to budget cuts.

The biggest change for Lights On for the 2016-17 school year will be the elimination of the program on Friday afternoons. Another change to the program will be a limited summer schedule following the school year. Lights On will update parents in the spring regarding the finalized summer schedule.

Former Lights On Program Director Jenny Davis said there were more budget cuts a couple of weeks ago on top of what they already knew was going to happen.

“We’re losing Fridays and there will be other changes in the program,” she said.

Davis said Lights On needs support from the community.

“We need support from the community and different ways they can help out, so we can continue to provide quality programming,” she said.

Lights On got approval for one fundraiser that they plan to do.

“We are going to be putting up vinyl banners, so businesses and organizations can buy a banner advertising their business or organization,” she said. “They will go up on the fences near the buses at the elementary and middle school.

Davis said that is one fundraiser they are looking at doing.

“We’re just trying to find some additional ways to bring in funds so that we don’t have to cut programming anymore and to kind of stabilize,” she said.

The Lights On Afterschool program is largely funded through grants such as the federally funded 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants (21 CCLC). 21 CCLC is a competitive grant and is never guaranteed. In recent years, the Hot Springs County School District has been successful in receiving the grants and the program had grown to what it is today. The district has provided additional funding to supplement the grant from many of the district’s revenue sources, including Bridges, IDEA and Title I funding.

The supplemental funding the district usually supplies will not be available this school year due to the district’s funding challenges. The county’s decreased valuation of approximately 40 percent shortened the district’s revenues for programming. One of the Lights On federal grants, purposed for elementary school student programming, also received a significant reduction.

Combined, these reductions make for decreased funding levels and decreased programming for Lights On. The Lights On programming this fall will look differently as there are no alternative funding sources available. However, if the economic outlook changes in future years, the district will adjust to maintain the program to the level of funding available.

For information about the vinyl banner fundraiser or to see how to help Lights On, call 864-6592.