Since he took over as superintendent of the Guadalupe Unified School District in 2018, Emilio Handall planned to establish after-school programs in Guadalupe.
Now he’s done it, and he found an anonymous Santa Barbara donor to help.
First, Handall had to connect with Roberto Rodriguez, the COO of the Boys and Girls Club of Mid Central Coast. They talked about what students needed, what parents wanted, and what it would cost to get it done.
Handall looked at his tight budget, saw no openings there, and worried what kind of turnout there would be if the program came with a steep price tag for parents.
They came up with two numbers: $40,000 for recreational after-school sports and $32,000 for an after-school arts program.
The donor heard the merits and offered up the money.
“As the new superintendent, we knew kids needed some type of outlet,” Handall said. “After-school sports, in most healthy communities, that’s what you got.”
Handall said the city already has an independent tackle football league, but for many families, it’s cost prohibitive. Now students in kindergarten through eighth grade have free after-school programs: soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and flag football in the spring.
The arts after-school program at Kermit McKenzie Independent School runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for kids who want to take their music or acting to the next level, or maybe they just want to drop in from time to time.
It’s the beginning of what Handall and Rodriguez hope will be an enduring tradition of after-school activities. But they know the money will eventually run out.
Handall said he might give the budget another look next year, pull in more donations, or ask for a small fee from parents.
“This year was all about how many parents and students were interested, and so far it looks like there are a lot,” Handall said.
Rodriguez and the Boys and Girls Club of Mid Central Coast is running the activities. He expects the sports program to eventually be funded entirely by parents. Next year, it will cost about $25 per sport, and the year after, anywhere from $85 to $110.
So far, there are about 90 students registered for the soccer program, Rodriguez said.
“Soccer is pretty big in the Hispanic community, and it’s a sport that’s not being offered currently in Guadalupe,” Rodriguez said.
Focusing on recreational sports in the city is something the City Council is also pushing. The city received a $4.5 million grant to renovate LeRoy Park. In a previous interview with the Sun, Mayor Ariston Julian said it’s a priority for the city to make the accompanying field there usable again.
Rodriguez said it was important to have arts programs, too, and the students participating will get a chance to act, sing, and even create their own beats with an iPhone app.
—William D’Urso
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2019.
