The American Rescue Plan required that the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) allocate $85 million to fund afterschool and summer activities.
In response, GaDOE partnered with the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network (GSAN) to create the Building Opportunities in Out-of-School Time (BOOST) grant program. The department tapped GSAN to manage and evaluate the three-year grant program and deliver training and technical assistance to over 100 grantees: community-based organizations that operate comprehensive, out-of-school time (OST) programming year-round, over the summer months, or after school during the academic year.
The demand for afterschool and summer programs exceeds current capacity. According to a survey by the Afterschool Alliance, for every child enrolled in an afterschool program in Georgia, two of their peers are waiting to enroll.
In the same survey, over half of Georgia parents (53%) reported that they would have enrolled their school-aged children in a summer program if one were available in their community.
The Georgia Partnership urges state leaders to leverage the BOOST grant infrastructure to develop a robust afterschool and summer learning policy framework that supports providers and expands access for students who would benefit from extended learning opportunities.
Creation of a statewide framework that expands access to and assures quality of afterschool and summer learning opportunities.
Committing to increased access to early college and work-based learning opportunities for all students.
State policy and advocacy groups create a statewide framework that provides predictable and recurring state investments for OST programming, a system of training and technical assistance for providers, and school system guidance on how to integrate OST services and supports into core K-12 strategies.
District and program providers leverage various federal funding sources to create or expand OST opportunities.