In November 2018, Aurora voters approved a $35 million mill levy override to support the health and safety of APS students, in accordance with APS’ CARES framework. One component of the approved mill levy override was to expand after- school programming for Kindergarten through fifth grade students in APS’ traditional schools (e.g., schools run by APS) so that more students would have access to safe spaces. In 2018-19, APS served approximately 14,200 K-5th grade students in its traditional schools, with approximately 1,200 K-5th grade students enrolled in afterschool programming at 28 out of 34 elementary/K-8 schools, thus highlighting the opportunity the mill presented for students and families.
Therefore, in order to strategically deploy these resources and expand programming in an impactful way, APS began expanding access for the 2019- 20 school year as part of a short-term strategy. For the 2020-21 school year, APS will begin implementation of the APS Afterschool System to support the early expansion of afterschool programming for K-5 students in APS run schools, so that more students are able to access afterschool programming.
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