Croton-Harmon parents receive a Friday surprise: Summer programs are cancelled for 2025 due to facilities construction work. [Update: Village of Croton summer programs will be held, Rec Dept says]
A letter from Superintendent Stephen Walker did not mention whether the district had pursued alternative locations for the very popular programs.
Croton-Harmon school staff got the word yesterday; parents just got it today, Friday the 13th. In a letter to the district, Croton-Harmon schools Superintendent Stephen Walker announced that summer programs for 2025 will be cancelled due to construction work in the school’s buildings and facilities:
“The summer of 2025 will mark the final and most extensive phase of our Future Facilities Project, designed to enhance our school facilities and create a more dynamic learning environment for our Tiger students and staff. While we are excited about these improvements, the large-scale construction across all buildings will limit access to our facilities this summer.
The planned work will involve district-wide abatement, significant modifications impacting building access and emergency egress routes, and intermittent water and power interruptions. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and these construction constraints make it impossible to fully operate our schools as normal this summer.”
Walker added that two programs will, however, be offered:
“…our Extended School Year Program (ESY) for students with special needs, which will run at CET from July 14 to August 22, 2025, between the hours of 8 am-11 am, and our ‘Algebra for All’ preparatory course, which is slated to be held at the end of August.”
Walker’s letter did not mention any attempts that the district might have made to find alternative venues for the popular summer programs, for example in facilities in the village of Croton-Harmon or surrounding communities. That makes it difficult to judge how hard the district tried to avoid the cancellations, which are likely to put some parents and children into a bind this summer (including parents who will have to seek alternative childcare arrangements in some cases.)
Also likely to suffer are staff who rely on the income from running these programs during the summer, including school aides who do not receive unemployment during the summer months.
The news came as a big disappointment to some parents we spoke to.
“We always do a week or two of the programs,” one parent told us. “The math has drastically helped my [children] and they love the art at CET.”
As for why the news was sent out on a Friday, one staff member told us that this was the district’s “MO”—to send out bad news at the end of the week to avoid immediately dealing with calls and emails from unhappy parents.
Of course it is only December, and the district still has time to find alternative spaces for summer programs if it wants to badly enough. That makes it all the more surprising that Walker’s letter was sent out so early. He did sign off the letter on a cheery note, however:
“Thank you for your continued support and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your building principal or to me. We will provide further updates on the project status as we approach the summer.
With Tiger Pride,
Steve”
Editor’s Note: We invite affected parents to comment on this decision using the button below.
Update December 16: We are informed by Croton’s Recreation Department that all of the village’s summer camps and related programs will go on this summer, with registration beginning in March. Some already take place in village venues, and the department is working to find alternative locations for those programs that normally take place in school facilities.
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Thank you for this update. I didn’t even check the Parent Square App yet so I really appreciate The Croton Chronicle highlighting this major change with the Summer programs. This is very disappointing because the students benefit academically, socially and creatively in these programs. Many people can’t afford the local private camps. In previous years they worked around major construction projects in the buildings. I’m really surprised they can’t find a way to make this work for our students. Sad.