Weeks After School Starts, Staffing Shortages Leave More Than 20 Children Without Afterschool Care

One classroom for the Cambridge afterschool program has remained closed, leaving more than 20 students without afterschool care more than a month into the school year as staffing shortages and employee turnover have pushed the city to repeatedly postpone its opening.

The Falcons classroom at Peabody Community School was one of four afterschool classrooms run by the Department of Human Service Programs that faced a delayed start. Three of the four Community Schools classrooms delayed by staffing shortages had reopened by late September.

The Community Schools program is one of four afterschool program models offered by DHSP to provide afterschool care to students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

The department initially expected the Falcons classroom to open in September before pushing its anticipated opening from Sept. 28 to Oct. 5 and then to Oct. 12. But in a statement to The Crimson last week, DHSP confirmed that the classroom would remain closed for the week of Oct. 12.

Kenya Pavon, who leads the Community Schools program, attributed the delays to unexpected staffing changes, including the departure of three longtime staff members and one member of the school’s leadership team, in an Oct. 2 email to families.

According to DHSP’s September 2026 afterschool lottery report, hiring shortages affected 107 applicants across Community Schools classrooms who had already received offers. The report also noted that 267 applicants remained in the city’s afterschool waiting pool as of Sept. 17, noticeably more than the 2025 waitlist.

DHSP has not announced a new opening date — and has noted that they must fill at least four positions to “safely operate” the Falcons classroom.

Marcy West, whose child was assigned to the Falcons classroom, said the delays have made it difficult for her family to plan around work obligations, particularly because parents have been notified of the extended closure on a week-by-week basis. She said families often received notice on Friday afternoons that the classroom would not open the following week.

“It has been challenging having no after school and the problem was exacerbated by not giving us enough time to make adjustments to our work schedule or find alternative placements,” West wrote.

West brought her concerns about the delays and communication to Cambridge City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, who contacted DHSP on her behalf.

In an Oct. 6 email that West shared with The Crimson, Sobrinho-Wheeler wrote that the department had agreed to begin providing updates on Wednesdays to give caregivers more time to plan. He also wrote that DHSP could not add affected families to the waitlist for the city’s youth center programs.

Assistant City Manager Joseph Corazzini, who oversees DHSP, said in an interview Tuesday that the department had initially waited until Fridays to notify families because officials hoped to finalize staffing arrangements before the following Monday.

“The intention was not to give you late information,” Corazzini said. “The intention was to try to hold out as much as we can to try to see if we could get people through the process to be able to open a classroom for that Monday.”

Corazzini said the department was also exploring alternative placements for affected families, including available seats at the Gately Youth Center. He said 19 seats were available at Gately, which runs afterschool programming two days per week, and said he asked DHSP staff to determine whether families waiting for Peabody placements would be interested.

Beyond the immediate classroom delays, Corazzini said the department faces broader difficulties recruiting and retaining afterschool staff, particularly for part-time positions that offer limited hours and benefits.

He said some part-time employees are limited to 19.5 hours of work per week and do not receive health or dental benefits, making it difficult for the department to compete with other employers when hiring afterschool staff.

Corazzini said the city had converted several part-time positions into four full-time positions within its existing budget, allowing those employees to receive benefits.

The city is conducting a compensation study, which Corazzini said will examine pay rates for part-time employees this winter and compare them with wages offered by other municipalities and employers.

The city has also approved $500 retention bonuses for eligible employees who began working Sept. 1, provided they meet minimum weekly hour and six-month service requirements, he said.

Corazzini said the department is examining recommendations from a $100,000 out-of-school-time expansion study as part of its efforts to address recruitment, retention, and capacity.

“There’s also some major infrastructure needs that we have to address seriously if we’re going to be able to effectively grow our programs,” Corazzini said.

For the 23 children assigned to the Falcons classroom, the immediate question remains when their program will open.

DHSP said it is continuing to recruit and interview candidates but has not provided a new projected opening date.

—Staff writer Tess E. Sumner can be reached at [email protected].