COVID Policy
Interview with Michael Funk & Sweetwater Union High School District
CA Update: May 27, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
In this ninth interview, we are joined by Esther Parrenas, Site Coordinator for Southwest Middle School and Cesar Fernandez with Sweetwater Union School District to share how they have been engaging with their students and families during the COVID-19 school closures, as well as how they are engaged in the planning for re-opening of schools.
Interview with Michael Funk & CA3 on the Governor’s Proposed Budget
CA Update: May 21, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting weekly intervieww with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
In this eighth interview we are joined by Jen Dietrich from California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance, also known as CA3, to talk about the Governor’s May Revise Budget that was released last Thursday and the potential impacts for Expanded Learning in California. We are also joined by CA3 members Malia Villarreal and Mike Snell from the California Teaching Fellows Foundation to speak to the potential budget impacts at a programmatic level.
Everyone can take action to protect our programs: Text “Afterschool” to 52886
For more details visit www.saveafterschool.com.
Governor’s May Revise-After School Education and Safety Program
CA Update: Friday, May 15, 2020
A message from the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division:
Dear Expanded Learning Grantees,
As you may be aware, yesterday our Governor gave the annual “May Revise” update to his budget plan, which was originally released in January. Obviously, a lot has happened since January, and the impact of COVID-19 to our California economy was reflected in the budget numbers released yesterday. Since education is the largest sector funded by the budget, a significant impact to the economy means a reduction in revenue, including revenues for education. This sobering reality will dramatically impact our own agency, counties, districts, schools, and, ultimately, our students and staff.
Interview with Michael Funk on Expanded Learning Services Offered During COVID-19
CA Update: May 13, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting nearly weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
This seventh interview provides a quick update on the services being provided by the Expanded Learning field during COVID-19 and the field survey to collect this data.
The Expanded Learning Division (EXLD) is surveying all grantees to discover what services are being offered to students and families during the period of school closures due to COVID-19. The EXLD would also like to understand how expanded learning programs will be engaged with students and families when campuses reopen.
This survey should be completed by organizational staff that are familiar with the funding streams and services provided.
The survey is fairly brief and can be found here.
Interview with Healdsburg USD and Healdsburg Community Services Dept
CA Update: May 6, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting near-weekly interviews with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
In this sixth interview, we are joined by Healdsburg Unified School District and their CBO partner – the City’s Community Services Department. They share what they have been doing to respond to COVID in the immediate, and also how they are partnering around plans for reopening schools in the Fall.
Interviewees include:
- Erin Fender, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Healdsburg USD
- Mark Themig, Community Services Director, City of Healdsburg Community Services Dept
- Dave Jahns, Recreation Manager, City of Healdsburg Community Services Dept
- Grace Guerrero, Afterschool Program Director, City of Healdsburg
Interview with Marcus Strother & Malik Ibarra from SCUSD
CA Update: April 29, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting near weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
In this fifth interview, we are joined by Marcus Strother, the Director of Youth Development from Saacramento City Unified School District, and one of his students Malik Ibarra a senior at West Campus. This conversation focuses on what is happening at a district level, how districts in partnership with their community organizations can continue to serve our youth and communities, and what some of our students are experiencing during this time.
Extending Expanded Learning Grants and Attendance and Expenditure Reporting
CA Update: April 27, 2020
Grant Extension
The California Department of Education (CDE), Expanded Learning Division (EXLD) is pleased to announce that the After School Education and Safety (ASES), 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC), and the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens Program Grants will be extended until December 31, 2020. We are working on an amendment to the AO-400 grant agreement. We will be adding additional grant assurances for the grant extension time period.
Interview with Michael Funk on Grant Extensions
CA Update: April 27, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting near weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
This fourth interview provides a quick update on the status of extending Expanded Learning grants. The California Department of Education will be extending all ASES, 21st CCLC, and ASSESTs grants by six months. Instead of ending on June 30, the closeout date for the grants will be December 31, 2020. This also includes ASES Frontier Transportation grants and the grants that support the System of Support for Expanded Learning. Check out the video for more information and the EXLD Guidance on Extending Expanded Learning Grants and Attendance and Expenditure Reporting.
Interview with Michael Funk & Teresa Ayon of Anaheim Family YMCA
CA Update: April 23, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting near weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
This third interview mostly focuses on a conversation with Teresa Ayon from the Anaheim Family YMCA, digging into what our program providers are doing to continue to serve our communities during the COVID-19 crisis, including keeping workers employed and staying connected to the field.
Implementation Process Begins for CARES Act Education Funds
Federal Update: April 15, 2020
While the CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, the $30.75 billion Education Stabilization Fund authorized by the legislation is still in the early stages of the implementation process led by the US Department of Education. Four grant programs were created through the CARES Act under the umbrella of the State Education Stabilization Fund:
Interview with Michael Funk on Governor’s Executive Order and EXLD Guidance Memo
CA Update: April 13, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network is hosting a weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
This second interview primarily covers the Governors Executive Order that was released on April 4, 2020 and the subsequent guidance from the Expanded Learning Division that was released on April 10, 2020.
EXLD Executive Order Guidance Memo
CA Update: April 10, 2020
On April 4, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-45-20. Today the Expanded Learning Division (EXLD) released their Guidance related to Executive Order N-45-20 (full text below as well).
If you have any questions, please send them to expandedlearning@cde.ca.gov.
The EXLD is working on language to address other questions coming from the field. More information will be released as-soon-as it is ready.
Monday CAN will be releasing a video interview with Division Director Michael Funk that will discuss this memo in more detail.
Executive Order Provides Flexibility to ASES and 21st CCLC Programs and Expands Access to Child Care for Essential Workers
CA Update: April 4, 2020
On Saturday, April 4, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that will facilitate child care for children of essential critical infrastructure workers by allowing the California Department of Education and California Department of Social Services the flexibility to waive certain programmatic and administrative requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The waivers will focus on current eligibility and enrollment priorities that prevent child care and afterschool programs (ASES and 21st CCLC) from serving children of essential infrastructure workers. The waiver will allow eligibility for child care to prioritize essential workers, including health care professionals, emergency response personnel, law enforcement, and grocery workers.
Federal Fiscal Relief and COVID-19: Implications for Californians
CA Update: April 3, 2020
CARES Act Provides Funds to Address Potential Reductions to State K -12 Education Spending
To help shore up funding for K-12 education, the federal CARES Act establishes an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund that will provide an estimated $1.7 billion grant to the California Department of Education (CDE). At least 90% of this grant will be allocated to local school districts, charter schools, and COEs based on the proportion of federal Title I, Part A funding they received in 2018-19. Local school districts may use the federal CARES grant for a wide range of activities including coordination of response efforts to the coronavirus, planning for long-term school closures, purchasing educational technology, and providing mental health services. The CDE may use up to 10% of the federal CARES grant for emergency needs to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CAN Interview with Michael Funk on CDE Expanded Learning Division COVID-19 Guidance
CA Update: April 1, 2020
The California AfterSchool Network will be hosting a weekly interview with Michael Funk, Division Director for the California Department of Education Expanded Learning Division.
This first interview covers recent questions in response to guidance sent out from the Division on March 13 and March 27, 2020. If you have questions for future interviews please email the CAN team.
Economic Assistance for Nonprofits and Small Businesses
Federal Update: March 31, 2020
From the Afterschool Alliance:
We want to let you know of two time-sensitive economic assistance opportunities for nonprofits, made available through the federal government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) department. These programs are designed to offset financial hardship due to COVID-19 and are open to both for-profit and non-profit organizations. We encourage you to apply rapidly as funds will go fast.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce put together a brochure and Schusterman Foundation has compiled all stimulus information into a Google doc that they are updating in real-time.
COVID 19 Response Package #3
Federal Update: March 26, 2020
UPDATE: The third Coronavirus response bill was signed by the president on Friday, March 27.
The $2 Trillion COVID-19 Response Package #3/The CARES Act which was passed by the Senate on Wednesday, March 25 and will hopefully be passed by the House and signed by the President (who has already stated he would sign it) within the next couple of days.
The legislation, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (The CARES Act), has several provisions that are essential for afterschool providers, including:
- The State Education Stabilization Fund can be used to support afterschool and summer learning programs and their providers.
- The additional funding for childcare can be used by afterschool providers/staff that are continuing to stay open to serve their existing students and/or the children of health care providers and other essential staff.
- It makes it clear that non-profits are eligible for all the resources targeted to small businesses.
- Makes changes to the charitable deduction for tax year 2020 to encourage support of nonprofit organizations.
See more details below and additional information on the Afterschool Alliance blog post.