BALTIMORE — Councilmember Zeke Cohen announced a path forward for youth-serving programs program providers to operate on a five-day schedule during the summer months.
Working with Baltimore City Schools, they've agreed to a compromise that will allow programs to bring students on field trips on Fridays.
The previous agreement stated programs could only operate Monday through Thursday.
This was a compromise between Cohen and organizations like Elev8, a nonprofit which offers summer programming to youth in Southwest Baltimore, to give kids programming on Fridays without burning out school staff by making them come in on Fridays.
“Our children deserve a safe, joyful summer filled with quality programming. Working parents should not have to worry about finding childcare on Fridays,” Cohen wrote on social media, announcing the collaboration with City Schools. “As a former teacher, I also understand the stress our educators are under. By working together, we found a win-win.”
The Mayor's Office of Children and Family Success will partner with the City's Trauma Informed Care Taskforce to host a listening tour with teens to identify activities and destinations that would be appealing.
Cohen is hopeful that this summer effort can serve as a template not only for future summer programming, but also how City government and City Schools can more effectively collaborate for the district’s 76,000 students.
Baltimore City Public Schools released the following statement on Twitter:
City Schools will continue providing 4-day (Monday-Thursday) summer sessions that will be serving more students than ever before. City Schools congratulates Councilman Cohen on his initiative and the community partners that will provide other opportunities for summer learning. We encourage our families to contact Councilman Cohen's office for more information about his initiative.
