M.S. 158 Parents, Elected Officials Blast Proposal to Cut Beacon Program

Bayside elected officials and school leaders say they are concerned about a proposal to cut funding for M.S. 158’s Beacon program this summer.

Last week, a group of northeast Queens legislators – including state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, D-Fresh Meadows, and representatives for state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, and Councilman Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens – toured the Beacon program’s facilities.

Kim D’Angelo, president of District 26’s Presidents Council and former Parent Teacher Association president for M.S. 158, said the 950 students who use the program will be left with no options if funding for the Beacon is cut in June.

“It’s great for the community,” she said of the program. “It keeps kids off the streets and actively engaged. If it’s cut, it will be a great disservice to the community. I don’t know what the kids would do. Parents are concerned.”

More than 300 students use the Beacon as an after school program, while 150 students attend its summer camp and several hundred others take part in its basketball league.

There are two other Beacon programs in northeast Queens at M.S. 216 and M.S. 172, but D’Angelo said they were far away from M.S. 158 and that those programs are already full.

M.S. 158’s Beacon program, which has an estimated 35 staff members, provides homework help, sports, dance classes, computer training and a chamber orchestra.

D’Angelo said there is even more concern this year following the recent arrest of Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, which resulted in discretionary funding for the district being taken out of his control.

The program was in danger of being cut last year, but the City Council restored the funding.

“When it happened the first year, everyone fought for it,” said D’Angelo. “But we’re afraid it will lose momentum now that this is the second year this has happened.”

The program costs an estimated $360,000 to operate per year.

“It’s a tiny amount of money when you’re talking about the city budget,” D’Angelo said. “It’s penny wise and pound foolish. The investment in our community is worth so much more than that. The mayor is always talking about college and career readiness, but that doesn’t stop at 3 p.m. We’re looking for funds in this program to be put back into the budget on an annual basis. We don’t want a quick fix.”

But Avella said the proposal to cut the program every year is how the city budget operates.

“We shouldn’t have to worry about this, but the funding is done from year to year,” he said. “Once you’re on that cut list, it takes an effort to get off of it. I’ve noticed the way the mayor handles cuts is he proposes them one year, allows a program to be saved and, then, the second year allows it to be closed. Hopefully, the situation will change once there’s a new mayor.”

M.S. 158 is located at 46-35 Oceania St. in Bayside.