The Juneau School District has announced some upcoming changes in the RALLY (Recreation, Arts, Learning, and Leadership for Youth) program. RALLY is a state-licensed, school-age care program that is open to students in grades K-5 at each of the six elementary schools. RALLY currently provides before school, after Kindergarten, after school and summer care.

For the past few years, RALLY has been losing money. During the 2010-11 school year, fees were increased by 10% to help cover costs. However, the program continued to lose money, resulting in a $150,000 loss for the fiscal year.

RALLY fills a critical need for childcare in the Juneau community. There are 392 children from 305 families enrolled in the program. On a daily basis, 205 children attend the program. The school district is making changes at this time to be able to continue providing services to Juneau families.

One of the changes will be to close the one-hour morning program at most elementary schools. Most schools have four to six children attending RALLY each morning, which does not cover the costs of the program. The one site that will remain open is Harborview where 16 children attend the morning program.

Another change is to combine the Mendenhall River Community School RALLY with the Glacier Valley program. MRCS offers full day Kindergarten, so there is not currently an after-K RALLY program at that site. MRCS students will be able to take a bus at the end of the school day to Glacier Valley where they will participate in the RALLY. Parents will pick up at Glacier Valley at the end of the day.

The changes will go into effect on January 3, 2012, when students return from Winter Break. RALLY school site managers and the RALLY supervisor are working with families to help plan for the changes and explore possible morning options.

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