Barriers to afterschool programs: it's more than funding that stands in the way, an AASA study finds

School Administrator, August, 2003 by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood

Tom Andres, superintendent of the Sauk Prairie Public Schools in Sauk City, Wis., has removed almost every bureaucratic obstacle that had stood in the way of his school district running an effective afterschool program--and he has made it look easy.

Andres's strategies are deceptively simple. First, he hired staff much more highly paid and qualified than those typically employed by afterschool programs--thus preventing the high turnover, low morale and the "second-class citizen" phenomenon often experienced by afterschool program personnel.

Second, he ensured these staff-a former principal of an alternative high school and a social worker with a master's degree--already were employed half-time in regular positions in the district. This meant they not only were comfortable with the district's culture, but they also knew how to negotiate it. The other half of their work was supported by 21" Century Community Learning Center funds used to start the program in fall 2001. CCLC funds used to be administered through the federal government but now have devolved to the state level for distribution.

Third, Andres is planning the third year of the grant in a time of severe fiscal cuts, so the other 50 percent of his staffs positions will be covered once the grant ends. This ensures longevity for the afterschool program because Andres believes the program is tightly tied to the district's overall mission of academic achievement and youth development.

Fourth, the two afterschool program staff maintains solid relationships with other school staff. They are seen as central to the districts s mission, not as castoffs dealing with "those problem kids" who create afterschool disciplinary problems and chaos in classrooms.

Clever Approaches , What Andres accomplished sounds simple and uncomplicated. It would be, if it were not for the fact that the typical school district is a bureaucracy embedded with all kinds of barriers that impede even the simplest changes in culture, behavior or expectations. The research literature on school change or educational reform is chock-full of examples of failed adoptions or implementations. It seems the bureaucracy triumphs over improvement time and time again.

But must the will of the bureaucracy always prevail? Are there not strategies to overcome bureaucratic barriers? A recent Mott Foundation-funded study conducted by AASA sought successful strategies used by school leaders to overcome bureaucratic barriers. Specifically, AASA looked at ways school system leaders overcame hurdles to adopt effective afterschool programs. AASA identified ways in which administrators and other central-office staff cleverly overcame the usual blockages that stymie progress.

In Beaverton, Ore., it would be easy for the central office to look at all the obstacles standing between them and effective afterschool programs and just give up. But they don't.

Oregon has become notorious in recent months due to its critical fiscal situation and draconian cuts into school budgets. As a result, morale has plummeted, teachers are Out of work, and the school year was shortened.

As one superintendent said, "What do we do when we cut to the bone--and we still have to cur more? How can we provide a quality education for all of our students--not just the ones we know will receive supplementary help at home from their parents?"

Yvonne Katz, superintendent in Beaverton at the time of the Mott study (she is now superintendent in Spring Branch, Texas), worked with huge fiscal cuts yet maintained quality afterschool programming. She did so by instilling a districtwide commitment to afterschool programming that made such programs equally important to any of the other content areas.

In Beaverron's case, the mission was carried out through her expectations for building-level principals. These were communicated through her deputy superintendent, Betty Flad. Flad and Katz, while cobbling together funds for different afterschool programs, ensured the Beaverton district employed nothing less than an enthusiastic, bright and committed cadre of principals.

In return, these principals were not abandoned to deal with yet another fund-starved program in their buildings. They received adequate central-office support as well as monitoring to ensure they adhered to the district's mission and did not allow themselves to be distracted by the myriad crises that afflict a principal's day.

Isolating Incompetence

But districts more daunted by barriers in their paths continue to grapple with common bureaucratic problems. For instance, the afterschool program can become a temporary place to house a problematic staff member, someone who has been with the district in one capacity or another for years and because of tenure has been moved around continuously due to unsatisfactory performance.

As one superintendent said, "What can we do? He has been with the district so long and he is an administrator. We try to put him where he does the least harm."

Another superintendent who clearly was devoted to his school district demonstrated the negative aspect of a grant award. New grant-funded programs can raise parental expectations, she said, but ultimately disappoint in terms of what they deliver and fail to be sustainable. In the end, a program started by a short-term grant often leads parents to lobby vociferously at school board meetings for the program's continuation--with no visible means of support at the grant's expiration.