Will my child’s summer camp in Pennsylvania be affected by Trump’s funding hold?

Philly Burbs-

Summer camps for teens is huge in Pennsylvania; more than 400,000 children were enrolled in summer camps across Pennsylvania, representing roughly 40% of all camp-aged kids in the state.

But parents may soon have to consider summer alternatives, as President Donald Trump is reportedly withholding billions of dollars in federal funds that support summer camps and other child-related services in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Here’s what parents need to know about Trump’s latest move, which eliminates $230 million from Pennsylvania schools alone.

According to the New York Times and other published reports, President Donald Trump is withholding roughly $7 billion in total federal funds earmarked for after-school programs, summer camps, ESL programming, teacher training services and more.

The affected programs expected to receive the funds in early July; instead, the Department of Education reportedly began notifying state education agencies on Monday, June 30, that they would not be getting the money.

Several agencies across Pennsylvania that provide summer camps and other programming could be impacted by President Donald Trump’s withholding of crucial funding.

Building Opportunity through Out-of-School Time (BOOST), the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and the School District of Philadelphia are just a few of the large organizations that offer summer camps and services across Pennsylvania which will be impacted by Trump’s actions.

“School districts will be forced to cancel after-school programming, services for English learners and professional development as a result of $6.2 billion in federal K-12 grant money that the U.S. Department of Education is withholding from states and districts,” warned K-12 Drive. “The funding that has already been appropriated by Congress and that was supposed to be available to states and districts is for programs including migrant education, English learner services and academic enrichment.”

In specific, K-12 Drive notes these services won’t be receiving federal funding:

Professional development: $2.2 billion
Student support and academic enrichment: $1.4 billion
21st Century Community Learning Centers: $1.3 billion
English-learner services: $890 million
Migrant education: $375 million

Most summer camps in Pennsylvania have already begun programming, and there have been no public indications that any of the large service providers in the state are immediately shutting down or curtailing summer programming.

That could change quickly, so it’s best that parents talk with the director of their child’s summer camp program to find out the status of the program moving forward.

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