After summer camp season was salvaged with the help of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County, the city of Scotts Valley is reengaging the organization to provide an after-school solution for youth, as the pandemic rages on.
At its regularly scheduled council meeting on Aug. 4, the city offered to lease its Brook Knoll child care facility for the programs. It also guaranteed $90,000 in funding. It has been working with the Scotts Valley Unified School District to prep the afterschool program.
“What are some of the steps that we take to make sure this offering is going to be of the quality that we’ve come to expect from Boys & Girls Clubs, and something that the city feels proud serves its residents well?” Vice Mayor Jim Reed asked of staff. “To what extent is there dialog and are we making sure that this is the great experience that we’re all intending it to be?”
Staff replied the club will operate the program independent of the city and suggested a regular check-in could accomplish the necessary oversight throughout the year.
In the spring the city and the Boys & Girls Clubs chapter joined forces to run a summer camp at the community center, which served 50-60 local youth each week over the course of eight weeks. It cost $30,000, which was offset by Community Development Block Grant dollars.
The 2021-22 after-school program will be for students who attend both Vine Hill and Brook Knoll elementary schools.
Reed asked if staff was confident the Boys and Girls Clubs would be open to city officials questioning them about how the program is going.
City manager Tina Friend affirmed this to be the case. She also noted that about one-third of what the recreation department does could be considered child care.
“It was very significant when schools closed down last year and we weren’t able to function,” she said. “We’ve been just waiting for the moment to reopen in a strategic and sustainable way.”
Scotts Valley’s Vine Hill child care facility was in such bad shape the city had to close it down. Local officials successfully lobbied Congress for funding to replace it, and Democratic lawmakers have now proposed $1.4 million in cash for a new one.
Councilmember Donna Lind made the motion to authorize the city manager to lease the Brook Knoll site to the Boys & Girls Clubs chapter and cover costs up to $90,000, with Reed seconding it.
“I’m very thankful that the city was able to come up with this partnership,” Mayor Derek Timm said. “It’s been nothing but great for our community. To see it go deeper—especially when we don’t have an offering—it’s more than a band-aid. It’s really a good solution for our community during a time when our Rec department’s been decimated.”
The plan passed unanimously.
