The Dubois School Board voted Tuesday to suspend its Lights On program for the 2024-2025 school year, with a contingency plan in place to reopen if necessary.
The move came at the recommendation of Superintendent Steve Splichal, who outlined some of the “rationale” behind the suspension during a board meeting Tuesday.
For one thing, Splichal said, Lights On represents a “duplication of services” that are now available through the local Boys and Girls Club – and there’s a “limited pool of kids that would participate in either program.”
“Does it make sense for us to compete for that same pool right now?” he asked.
He also talked about the “alternative uses of space and personnel” that would be possible if Lights On was suspended.
For example, Splichal said the district could use the Lights On staff and space to offer a “kindergarten transition camp” to accommodate the “large class of pre-K kids” preparing to enter elementary school in the coming years.
Lights On staff could also help address “some of the needs” – like after-school tutoring – that were identified during recent listening tours and other outreach efforts, Splichal said.
‘Quality’ program
Looking on the “flip side,” Splichal also gave several reasons the district might want to “sustain” the Lights On program, which provides “quality” and “depth” that students might not otherwise “have access to.”
“There’s a familiarity, (and) the ability for parents and students to have a choice,” he said.
He added that there have “always been some questions” about the “long-term … stability” of the Boys and Girls Club program and its ability to hire enough staff to “keep the doors open.”
That’s why his recommendation to suspend Lights On came with a stipulation for a contingency plan that will allow the program to resume operation “within a week’s time” if, for example, the “Boys and Girls Club all of a sudden closed,” or if there was a sudden increase in local enrollments, he said.
“We will create that contingency plan and make sure that we have something that’s of greater definition should that need arise,” Splichal said.
The board approved the recommendation unanimously.
For more information, call Fremont County School District 2 at 455-5524.