CUSTODIANS AND MAYOR PURSUE FACILITIES SOLUTION

Mayor Don Plusquellic today made several important announcements concerning education and the Akron Public School (APS) system. The mayor and a leadership team from the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers Local 100, representing custodians in the APS, have met and discussed a solution to improving afterschool programs within the system. The custodians have agreed to take a proposal to the administration of the school system to rewrite the necessary contract language that would open the doors for the City of Akron to operate after-school recreation and learning programs in a greater number of public school buildings.

In his State of the City address in January, the mayor called for the school system to work with city government to create greater opportunities for the community to use the public schools.

He stated in that speech, "I am outraged that we are mired in ancient work rules that prohibit the effective use of public buildings for public purposes."

The City of Akron does have recreation programs in some schools. The city provides recreation leaders for these programs. The mayor has been critical however, of what he has called "outdated union rules that make it almost impossible" to use the school buildings for public use after school hours and require that custodians be paid to be present while the community is using the school buildings.

The mayor said at today’s announcement, "I give the custodians a great deal of credit.

Following my speech, in which I issued a strong challenge to them, the school board, teachers and the administration of the Akron Public Schools, they approached me to work on a solution."

"This is a tremendous step forward for the community. I believe that if the schools partner with us to provide tutoring, mentoring, or other enrichment activities we could require as a condition of participating in the recreation programs, we could provide all of Akron’s neighborhoods with a valuable and necessary resource."

The mayor’s announcement today also included news that when the school system approves the necessary changes in contract language with the custodians, he will also seek authorization from Akron City Council to expend an additional $100,000 for hiring staff to enhance and expand community afterschool programs. The mayor will also introduce legislation to pay for any fences or gates that would need to be installed to secure school buildings or classrooms.

Mayor Plusquellic announced that he would also work with the Akron Public Schools to apply for an Afterschool Alliance grant. The Afterschool Alliance is a coalition of public, private and non-profit organizations committed to raising resources for afterschool programs. It has awarded more than $18 million in grants to districts throughout Ohio since 1998. The Afterschool Alliance ( www.afterschoolalliance.org ) states, on its Web Site that its goal is to "ensure that every child has access to a quality, affordable afterschool program by the year 2010."

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to obtain valuable resources for our children and our community," the mayor said this afternoon. "This organizations average grant award is $500,000. Some Ohio public school systems have been the recipients of as much as $7 million dollars in grants in just the last two years. Our community should be applying for this money."

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