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Uncertainty Lingers Over Fate Of East Ramapo After-School Program

EAST RAMAPO, N.Y. -- The fate of an after-school program remains up in the air just weeks before East Ramapo children go back to class, according to reports by lohud.com and FiOS1.

Children make objects out of ice pop sticks at the Ramapo After School Program (RASP) at the Kakiat Elementary School in Spring Valley. The struggling program is on hold while it and East Ramapo school officials work out financial and space issues.

Children make objects out of ice pop sticks at the Ramapo After School Program (RASP) at the Kakiat Elementary School in Spring Valley. The struggling program is on hold while it and East Ramapo school officials work out financial and space issues.

Photo Credit: Rockland After School Program/Facebook
Children play at the Ramapo After School Program (RASP) at the Kakiat Elementary School in Spring Valley. The struggling program is on hold while it and East Ramapo school officials work out financial and space issues.

Children play at the Ramapo After School Program (RASP) at the Kakiat Elementary School in Spring Valley. The struggling program is on hold while it and East Ramapo school officials work out financial and space issues.

Photo Credit: Ramapo After School Program/Facebook

The financially struggling Rockland After School Program (RASP), a non-profit organization that has been around since 1983, was kicked out of its space at the Kakiat Elementary School in Spring Valley after it couldn’t pay the rent, lohud.com reported.

But Schools Superintendent Deborah Wortham told lohud.com that said the district is working to find a way to keep the program going so dozens of kids will have a place to play or do homework after school.

RASP Executive Director Triny Hertzberg said that, despite cutting staff, she wasn't able to make payroll this summer and pay the program's rent at the same time, lohud.com reported.

Wherever RASP lands, it won’t be at Kakiat; it and the Lime Kiln Elementary School, the program’s former home, are being converted into magnet schools and their use will be restricted, the lohud.com story said.

Parents see the program as crucial because of the lack of daycare options in the community, FiOS1 reported.

To read the lohud.com article, click here.

To read the FiOS1 article, click here.

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