The Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a trio of annual rate hikes that will ultimately raise the monthly fee for its A+ after-school program to $120 per student from $85, marking the first increase in five years.
The state Department of Education, which provides A+ after-school programming for nearly 20,000 elementary school children a year at 180 schools, sought the increases to cover rising costs to run the programs, including rises in the state’s minimum wage.
Under the approved schedule, the monthly rate will increase to $100 on July 1, $110 in July 2017 and $120 the following July. The after-school program, established in 1990, runs on regular school days until 5:30 p.m. It provides students time to complete homework and offers activities that can include arts and crafts, drama, dance, sports and games.
“We are concerned that there may be some families that will not be able to afford the fee increase and that our enrollment may decrease because of that. And as enrollment decreases, it’s harder to maintain some of the programs,” Amy Kunz, senior assistant superintendent and chief financial officer, told the BOE’s finance committee. “We are hopeful that this much lead time … will allow parents time to plan for this fee increase.”
Kunz said BOE policy requires that the program, which has not received general fund support from the state since 2010, be self-sustaining.
The program collects roughly $7 million a year in enrollment revenues at DOE-run sites, while expenditures are expected to increase to $8.6 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Without the proposed increases, the DOE had estimated the program would run a nearly $377,000 operating deficit next fiscal year and be $2.3 million in the red by the end of the following fiscal year.
The fee increases were supported by several private providers — including YMCA of Honolulu, Kamaaina Kids and Moiliili Community Center — which are contracted to run 130 of the A+ school sites.
Ray Sanborn, president of Kamaaina Kids, told the board that the current $85 monthly fee covers about 95 percent of his company’s costs (private providers use DOE facilities rent-free) but that future minimum wage hikes will dramatically increase costs.
He said the existing monthly cost to families breaks down to less than $2 an hour per child for after-school care. Nationally, parents who pay for after-school programs report spending an average of $113.50 per week on such programs, according to a 2014 report by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Afterschool Alliance.
“Unfortunately, without an increase we cannot continue to provide care, nor do we have the financial capacity to bid on sites that may be a burden financially,” Sanborn said. “We have already incurred the first 50-cent increase in (the minimum) wage, and in January we will incur another 75 cents.”
Hawaii’s minimum wage went up to $7.75 per hour at the start of this year and will increase annually to $10.10 an hour by Jan. 1, 2018.
BOE Vice Chairman Brian De Lima asked whether the proposed fee increases would be sufficient or if providers would shy away from bidding on A+ sites because the finances don’t pan out.
Sanborn said, “We’re local not-for-profits. We’re here to serve the families and communities of Hawaii. We’re not trying to rake anybody over the coals, but we’re trying to make the program sustainable. And I think we can do that” with the increases.
