Muskogee Public Schools Shuts Down After-School Programs Due To Lack Of Federal Funds

Muskogee Public Schools will close its after-school programs at nearly all schools after not getting federal money to operate them this year.

Muskogee Public Schools is a Title 1 district, meaning more than 80 percent of kids in the district on free and reduced lunch. These afterschool programs are crucial to parents and kids.

"I want to be a lawyer when I grow up," said Ethena Thompson, who is heading into the fourth grade. She enjoys book club, afterschool tutoring, and the Gifted and Talented program. Now, just a week before school starts, she’s not sure what she’ll be doing after school.

"It helped me with my reading and tutoring. It helped me focus in school and get good grades," Thompson said.

Muskogee Public Schools shared a note Monday morning letting parents know that the free after-school programs at three elementary schools, as well as the sixth & seventh-grade academy and the eighth and ninth-grade center, could no longer be offered this year.

"And so I'm very sorry for our parents and our kids and those because we were doing some really great things, tutoring, we had snacks, we had all kinds of different things that were going on for kids, good for kids after school," said Superintendent Dr. Jarod Mendenhall.

Shawna Thompson, Ethena’s mom, knows how these programs impact families.

"There are parents out there who really rely on those afterschool programs just in order to be able to survive, to be able to work and to have a ball drop on them like that last minute, it's just, it's going to be devastating," said Shawna Thompson.

Superintendent Mendenhall says the district is looking to find solutions but isn’t sure if these programs will come back once school starts—and if they will be free.

"So when we were notified on the 23rd it was kind of one of those, oh my, now what are we going to do? I mean, we're going to have to really look at some different options," Mendenhall said.

Otherwise, kids like Ethena and their parents will have to make a new plan for the school year that starts in less than 10 days.

Pershing Elementary is the one school that did get funding from a local organization for an afterschool program. News On 6 reached out to the State Department of Education about why MPS didn’t get funding this year. We expect to learn more on Tuesday.