Guest columnist Stephanie Pouliot and others: Fix after-school fees for all elementary schools
">
Published: 7/18/2021 6:59:05 PM
While Superintendent John Provost and the Northampton School Committee are to be commended for making after-school care at Leeds Elementary more affordable and accessible for families (“Leeds Elementary changing before- and after-school fees,” July 9), the district must now take action to do the same at the city’s three other elementary schools.
As noted in the Gazette article, the Leeds Late Bird/EarlyBirt program run by the district is changing the fee structure from $8 per day to an hourly rate of $4, in order to “provide a much more rational after school fee” because “[u]sage varies dramatically based on estimated needs.” Provost says in the article that it didn’t make sense to charge the same flat fee for families who are using the after-school program for different amounts of time.