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The race is on for Say Yes Cleveland to find enough money to plug a $4 million-plus gap left after Cuyahoga County Council cut funding for the family support specialist program that Say Yes provides.
Cuyahoga County Council voted Tuesday evening to appropriate $4.9 million to fund family support specialists for the Say Yes Cleveland program. That's an almost 50% reduction in what the county had initially budgeted to pay for the program, now in its fourth year.
Cuyahoga County Council recently approved funding for Say Yes Cleveland's fourth year in the amount of no more than $4.9 million. That was a significant drop from the amount shown proposed in the Oct. 5 committee meeting agenda of $9.256 million.
While Say Yes Cleveland – which started in 2019 - is mainly known as a “college promise” program, which pays for the tuition of CMSD students who attend four years of high school and live in the district, the role of family support specialists in local schools goes far beyond preparation for higher education.