The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – For several months, community leaders have discussed plans for an after school program for Dayton school children. Planning has been a collaborative effort, and funding has not yet been secured, but the ball is still rolling.

School officials tried, at the end of the school year, for a grant to help fund the program but were unsuccessful.

“I think it would be a good thing to continue planning to meet and discuss options for the future of some type of program,” Superintendent Doug Johnson wrote in an email last week.

The Dayton School Board will hear from Johnson on after school program progress at their board meeting this week.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Youth and Families has formed a task force of community members interested in helping this plan move forward. Parents and key community leaders are on this task force, including Columbia County Commissioner Dwight Robanske, who says the county is very supportive of an afterschool program.

“One issue is sustainability,” said coalition director Peggy Gutierrez. “We can probably get grants for that first year, but what about after that?”

A dormant community non-profit group, the Community Network, has been revived to help with the funding of the program, Gutierrez said. Any grant money received will need a 501c3 to receive and disperse the funds, and the Community Network fits the bill.

Jody Martin, a member of the task force, has been using her network of contacts through the Columbia County Hospital District and Columbia Cares, a local non-profit, to connect program planners with a consultant from the Eastern Washington Critical Access Hospital Network to discuss the development of a strategic plan for implementing an after school program.

“That network has access to funds to pay for developing the strategic plan but cannot pay for any of the program costs,” Gutierrez said. “Once we have the strategic plan developed, we can pursue a variety of local funds to support the program.”

Organizers estimate that it will cost approximately $35,000 to pay for a minimal staff to run an after school program. In-kind contributions from the school district would equal about $20,000 additionally – for use of the facilities as well as basic supplies (paper, copy machine, pencils, markers, etc.). And high school student volunteer hours anticipated come to about 50 hours per week for 36 weeks, equaling approximately $18,000.

Planners are determined to create a sustainable after school program in Dayton. “The state has said we can divert some money to support a program, but we can’t hold all the weight,” said Commissioner Robanske. “The commissioners are passionate about this.”

Robanske and other commissioners have stated before that money and time spent on children in programs such as this prevents the county from spending thousands of dollars on juvenile detention and rehabilitation.

“Our kids have way too much time on their hands,” said Kate Wenzl at the June coalition meeting. Wenzl has been the district’s interim secondary principal. “It’s going to take community engagement and coordination. We need to work smarter, not harder. We’ve all gotta be part of the solution on this.”