Children finish their day before being picked up by their parents during the Auburn Adventures Childcare Program on Thursday. Auburn offers the program from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to help with child care issues related to children not being in school five days a week. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Citing unanticipated costs associated with providing childcare for schools that are operating hybrid or remote learning models, the state announced in late August a commitment of $25 million in Coronavirus Relief Funding to help schools in need.

Auburn schools stand to benefit from some of that funding, with the Auburn School Department and some local organizations partnering on the grant.

The school district partnered with the Auburn Recreation Department, the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine’s Auburn/Lewiston Clubhouse and YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston to apply for the grant, which will allow Auburn to provide free childcare on remote-learning days for up to 329 students, from kindergarten to sixth grade.

“Recognizing the challenge the hybrid model presents to our families, we are very pleased to be able to work with our partners to provide this opportunity for daycare free of charge,” said Dr. Cornelia Brown, superintendent of schools for Auburn, in a press release announcing the grant. “We very much appreciate the collaborative partnerships we have developed with several providers to provide high-quality care for our students.”

“Before the grant was announced, we all got together via Zoom back in July, along with the schools’ before/aftercare program coordinator, to discuss how we all planned on supporting parents’ needs for daytime childcare during remote learning days,” Auburn Recreation Director Sabrina Best said. “Putting aside the thought of working with your competitor, the conversation was great and super positive. We wanted to work together and try and create a consistent and uniformed effort in helping our community.”

The application was required to be signed and attested by a superintendent or head of school, but school districts were allowed to partner with parks and recreation departments, Boys and Girls Clubs and local YMCAs to create childcare programs. Best said that having recreation departments specifically mentioned in an information and FAQ packet sent out by the Maine Department of Education was helpful when learning about the grant.

“Each of us created our own budgets for what our programs would cost and submitted them to the schools, where (Auburn schools Business Manager Adam Hanson) put them all together into one formal request for Auburn’s school district,” Best said.

“This is going to be a great opportunity to help students that are at home on the off days from school,” Auburn/Lewiston Boys & Girls Club Director Gary Violette said.

Zach Boyd cleans countertops while talking to a young boy during the Auburn Adventures Childcare Program on Thursday. Auburn offers the program from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Boyd, a 2017 graduate of Edward Little High School, is majoring in sports management at Lasell University. He is currently taking online classes since most sports teams are not playing because of the pandemic. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

The clubhouse’s program, which Violette said will also provide care to students from Lewiston schools, will hopefully begin Monday.

The Auburn rec program, named the Auburn Adventures Childcare Program, started Monday with a small portion of students while Auburn schools awaited the official grant award.

“Those that enrolled in our program were charged $25 a day for a month in advance to secure the start of the program,” Best said. “The charge was necessary because we were unsure if we would receive the grant or receive full funding.”

Best said the Auburn Adventures program will be able serve up to 140 kids per day across three different locations in the city — Hasty Community Center/Ingersoll Turf Facility, Auburn Public Library and the Family Development Center at Valerie Circle.

Due to current staffing levels, Best said that the program is “only able to accommodate 40 per day for these first two weeks until we can get the other locations and staffing in place.”

The program can host more students on Wednesdays, with high school staff able to help out with no in-person learning at Edward Little High School on those days.

“Trying to figure out the best format for staffing is super challenging because every school’s and every teacher’s remote learning looks different,” Best said. “There are different times, different activities, and different formats but staff is doing a great job working with parents and teachers in figuring out this first week. The Auburn School Department has been super helpful this week and very grateful that we’re able to help support the kids during remote learning days.”

Auburn schools’ in-house childcare program will provide for up to 115 students, who will be based out of three of the city’s elementary schools — Fairview, Park Avenue and Sherwood Heights.

The YMCA can provide for up to 34 students.

“We’re excited to partner with parents and the Auburn School Department to offer this much needed, full-day and distance learning programming,” YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston CEO Steven Wallace said in the press release. “Together, we’re confident we can provide our youth the mind-body-spirit platform they need to learn, grow, and succeed in this difficult time.”