ERfC Petition Presented to School Board

A petition urging support for a non-profit before- and after-school learning program was presented to the Board of Education at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

Enfield resident Shannon Grant collected 309 online signatures on the petition, including those of Mayor Scott Kaupin, Rep. David Kiner and school board leaders Greg Stokes and Judy Apruzzese-Desroches.

The petition asks the board to support Educational Resources for Children (ERfC), a non-profit agency founded in 1994 which currently provides after-school programs in several school buildings in Enfield.

ERfC is willing to expand into all town schools and include breakfast, before and after-school care, and activities during early release and vacation days, according to the petition.

The issue of was a hot topic in recent months, with the school board initially asking for proposals from area non-profit agencies.

After several weeks of conversations with three organizations, including ERfC, the board decided to remove itself from deciding on a provider for those services. Agencies were told they may apply to run their program within a school building, subject to approval under the town's revised facility-use policy.

ERfC is not seeking funding from the town; rather, it is looking for building use approval, which comes from the Town Council, and a partnership with the Board of Education for the purpose of grant approval.