A youth program that has served a Forest Hills Junior High School for over a decade could cease to exist if it is cut from the July city budget.
The Beacon Program, which is an after-school and evening program and serves people from ages 8 to 21, at JHS 190 in Forest Hills could be eliminated this summer if it is chosen as one of the seven schools to have its program cut.
Marlena Starace, Leadership Development Specialist of the Beacon Program at JHS 190, came to last week’s Community Board 6 meeting to plead with community members to support the program remaining at the school.
Starace said that the reason that it is on the list of schools that could lose its beacon program is because it is in a “lowest need” region, which is determined by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD).
“Obviously, that is absolutely ridiculous,” said Starace, who attended the board meeting with four students who are active in the program. “There is a need for this program in every community.”
Overall, there are 16 schools on list spanning the five boroughs, including eight schools in Queens, which is the most out of all the boroughs. In addition to JHS 190, other Queens schools on the list include IS 141 in Astoria and JHS 216 in Flushing.
Along with the after-school program, the Beacon gives kids a chance to take courses like leadership development, high school preparation and web design.
After Starace spoke to the board, the students got their opportunity to say what the program means to them.
“Without the Beacon Program, I wouldn’t get high grades,” Miriam Fink said. She added that she now gets between 85 and 90 on her math scores after she was tutored in the after-school program.
“It’s a great way to give community service; I don’t want to see it shut down,” said Jeanine Hinds, another student who’s in the Beacon Program.
In December, the Queens Community House, which serves as the headquarters for the Beacon Program, sent a letter to Councilwoman Karen Kozlowitz’s (D-Forest Hills) office telling her of their concern of the program’s potential closing. The petition aimed at gaining Kozlowitz’s support for keeping the youth service in the school.
“As a concerned citizen, I urge your support in prioritizing and ensuring that our quality Beacon Program at JHS 190 will remain open,” the petition says.
At the CB 6 meeting, Kozlowitz’s District Director, Veronica Morales said that the councilwoman fully supports keeping the program at the school.
“The councilwoman is going to be fighting very hard to make sure that funding comes back to the Beacon program,” Morales said. “Hopefully, the beacon program will continue the work that it does.”
Morales also reminded the board that, because of an agreement reached with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, the program will definitely remain at the junior high school until July 1.
For Starace, she hopes that the beacon program will stay at the school past that date.
“We need to make sure that these kids have safe places to go and to not be on the streets,” Starace said.
Representatives from DYCD did not respond to phone calls by press time.
By Luis Gronda
Forum Newsgroup photo by Luis Gronda
