NYC Coronavirus Budget Cuts Cancel Roosevelt Island Beacon Program Summer Camp As Of Now - Join RI Beacon Zoom Virtual Town Hall May 7 To Discuss Summer Camp Advocacy And Learn More, Submit Your Video To Show Suport For Roosevelt Island Beacon Summer Camp

The excellent education news web site Chalkbeat reported April 16:

As New York City students lament the loss of school for the remainder of the year, their options for summer also look grim, with public pools closed and city-funded summer camps and a youth jobs program canceled

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed budget announced Thursday slashes a host of summer programs for low-income students as the city expects a huge financial hit to its coffers. Those cuts include after-school programs that operate summer day camps. The city says these programs might not be safe given the coronavirus crisis, but cutting them could pose significant challenges if New Yorkers are still practicing social distancing and trying to keep families indoors.

The mayor has not said how the city will handle summer school, though the education department is creating “all sorts of scenarios,” including online summer learning....

The Child Center of New York operates the Roosevelt Island Beacon after school program at PS/IS 217 and summer camp. According to the Roosevelt Island Beacon Assistant Director Sakinah Muhammad:

The Roosevelt Island Beacon will be hosting a virtual town meeting regarding the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) loss of funding as of June 30, 2020. This budget cut directly effects our ability to host summer camp. As of now, there will not be a RI Beacon Summer Program.

Join us next Thursday, May 7th from 5:30 - 6:30 pm for a Virtual Town Hall Meeting via Zoom. We plan to discuss our advocacy ideas, take suggestions from you, as well as discuss summer camp and questions surrounding it.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87201753304?pwd=bWs2L0kwQWVmcVR0SkJQek5GNkpIdz09

Meeting ID: 872 0175 3304
Password: 9T4x0A

Our staff have put together a sample video, and we plan to circulate the final version featuring you, via social media in an effort to mobilize support for funding. Currently, we're accepting video submissions to add for the final product via email to beacon217@childcenterny.org, through next Friday, May 8th. In the video please do the following:

1. State your name.
2. Say, "When I think of Beacon I think of "_________ OR "Beacon supports me by _________."
3. Ensure the volume of the video is consistent and loud enough to hear.
4. Make sure you have a clean background, adequate lighting and a good camera angle.
5. If you have a Roosevelt Island shirt handy, please wear that.

We're accepting videos submissions from ALL stakeholders, including current & past participants, parents, community partners/liaisons, etc., as this cut effects us all. NOTE: For the sake of length, it is ideal for videos to be either, ONE verb or a SHORT sentence to fill in the blank above.

Lastly, we're asking that everyone complete the Summer advocacy survey ASAP.

CLICK HERE to complete the advocacy survey.

Youth Tell What They Think of Roosevelt Island Beacon program pic.twitter.com/0Yx5rAVO10

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) May 6, 2020