Plans would allow Winchester program to continue after school

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
 
WINCHESTER — District administrators and representatives from a before- and after-school program have hashed out a plan that would allow the afternoon portion of the program to continue to use the town’s school beyond this school year.
But the future of the morning program remains in limbo.

ACCESS supporters, for a third consecutive week, attended a Winchester School Board meeting Thursday night to continue to question officials about the decision to evict the program from the kindergarten through 8th-grade Winchester School, and to learn about the latest proposal.

ACCESS is an acronym for All Children Cared for Educated Supported and Successful, and is a nonprofit organization with a local board of directors. The day care program, which began in 2000, provides homework help, activities, clubs and snacks for the children enrolled. It also provides dinner for some students whose parents can’t pick them up until 6 p.m. during the week.

Superintendent James M. Lewis told the Winchester School Board Thursday that school officials met with ACCESS’ board of directors Tuesday for two hours, and one of the items they discussed was concerns with the afternoon program that need to be addressed.

Those include making sure ACCESS staff knows how to deal with issues students are facing before the school day starts, having scheduled times for ACCESS representatives and school officials to meet, and having the program pay a fee to use the school.

He believes those matters can be solved, and recommends allowing ACCESS to use the school building for its afternoon operations, with some changes, he said.

However, the morning portion of the program remains a concern for school officials, as student problems that arise during the morning can continue into the school day, he said.

“Students do not tell adults or resolve issues then because they want to play,” he said. “But once school begins, those pent-up concerns overflow into the school day.”

That affects the school’s ability to educate students, he said.

There is also no transition time for students going from the ACCESS program in the morning to the classroom, he said.

Last month, Lewis sent a letter to ACCESS, which serves about 75 families with students in kindergarten through 8th grade, saying the program had to leave the school by June 30.

The letter didn’t explain the reasons for not renewing the organization’s agreement with the school, but Lewis has repeatedly said it has to do with space concerns as the school continues to grow.

Lewis clarified Thursday that school officials don’t plan to turn the ACCESS office in the school into a classroom, but most likely will give it to an information technology employee. The employee’s current office could be used for a classroom, he said.

He also wanted to clarify that ACCESS and Winchester School aren’t the same entity, as there has been some confusion about that, he said.

As she did last week, Missy Calderwood, drug-free community coordinator for Winchester, pressed board members about how school officials came to the decision to remove part of the ACCESS program, and if it really had to do with space problems at the school.

She again referenced nonpublic meeting minutes from Feb. 2 that state Lewis and Winchester School Principal Michael Duprey advised the board there were “too many problems” with the program, which “seems to be a daily thing.”

According to those minutes, Lewis and Duprey said they want to be fair and give ACCESS time, “but it’s time to say enough.”

Lewis then said he was looking for the school board’s “blessing” to end having ACCESS at the school, which he received, the minutes state.

“I’m curious if the problems stated in the meeting notes have anything to do with this, and why wasn’t it brought up to Beth prior to getting ACCESS out,” Calderwood said.

Beth A. Baldwin has been executive director of ACCESS since August 2016.

School board Chairman Kevin Bazan said space is definitely an issue, and the administration had brought up ACCESS at the Feb. 2 meeting and at previous meetings for which the minutes are still sealed.

Bazan said the board stands by school administrators that what they’ve decided for ACCESS is the right way to go, he said.

“The school needs to be a school first before it’s a place for ACCESS to operate,” he said.

The likely institution of a facilities use fee for ACCESS brought up concerns from some audience members if other groups, such as the Winchester Community Band, would also be charged for using the school.

Jeremy Miller, former executive director of ACCESS, argued against fees for community groups. The renovation and addition to Winchester School some years ago, was sold to residents as a way to make the school a community hub.

“I’m sad as a citizen, I’m sad as a former ACCESS employee, and I’m sad as a former school district employee,” he said.

Lewis said school and ACCESS officials will meet again April 25 for a phone discussion with the state.

The phone call is expected to focus on what is required in a memorandum of understanding between ACCESS and the Winchester School so the groups can partner, school district Business Manager Elisha Jackson said.

The most recent agreement is dated June 2016.

“We want to work together for what is best for the students,” Lewis said, “not what’s best for the school, ACCESS or even parents.”

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley @keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.