Mayor, Councilmember Schenirer back expanded summer learning program for vulnerable kids

Recorded Live at 9:30am, May 26, 2020

Councilmember Jay Schenirer and Mayor Darrell Steinberg will bring a proposal to the City Council Tuesday to spend $2 million in federal stimulus funds on an enriched summer learning program for city youth.

They will ask the Council to provide direction for the City to work with school districts and community-based organizations to craft the details of a program that would run from mid-July to mid-August, and which would address both the academic and social-emotional needs of K-12 students in the city.

Such a plan would build on financial commitments to youth the City Council is already poised to make Tuesday. Councilmembers are scheduled to vote to spend $250,000 in federal stimulus funds to create a youth summer job corps that will hire up to 400 students to address the effects of the COVID-19 shutdown and provide critical work readiness skills. Jobs could include such activities as delivering food for seniors, promoting participation in the Census or mentoring younger students in the summer learning program. Participants could receive a stipend of up to $500.

Also Tuesday, the Council will vote on a proposal by Mayor Steinberg and Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby to spend $550,000 in federal stimulus funds to provide free internet access to needy students, families and individuals for the next six months.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure all young people in Sacramento are provided the support they need to be successful - even more important in these difficult times,” said Councilmember Schenirer. “COVID-19 was a barrier to prevent in-person learning and success, but we don’t have to let it remain a barrier for young people who need it the most. We need to quickly dedicate resources to prevent that from happening.”

There are a total of 89,545 students in the city of Sacramento served by six school districts. All the districts serving the city would be invited to participate in the summer program and to match the City’s funding. Depending on school district participation, between 5,000 and 10,000 students could benefit. The program would be run collaboratively by school districts and community-based organizations.

Councilmember Schenirer said the details of the program are still being developed, but it would likely involve a combination of in-person and virtual instruction. Representatives of community-based organizations would work with teachers to develop a curriculum including academics, social emotional skill-building, mental health awareness training, digital/tech literacy and the arts.

When the school districts serving the City suspended in-person classes in March, the impacts fell disproportionately on children in families that did not have a reliable internet connection, a computer or were not accustomed to accessing educational resources online. The lack of academic instruction for the last three months of the school year will only compound the well-documented “summer learning loss” that affects these same children.

“We can’t build a modern, inclusive economy without all of our residents participating, and the loss of learning this year threatens to leave the most vulnerable students farther behind for years to come,” said Mayor Steinberg. “The good news is that we have the ability, using some of the stimulus money from the federal government, to intervene and get students more prepared for when regular instruction resumes.”

Find more details of the City’s youth plan here and here.