Fireside Chats

Join us for our 40th fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk, Director of the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education, and Heather Pilgrim, Superintendent of Oak Valley Union Elementary School District.

Heather and Michael provide a few reflections on conversations they’ve had with districts regarding ELO-P implementation and then chat further with Heather Pilgrim about her challenges with ELO-P and how she is started to navigate through the implementation process and leverage the opportunities available with the ELO program.

Join us for our 38th fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk and Sterling Williams from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education and two LEA Leaders:

• Lisa Broomfield, Director of Equity and Access, Moreno Valley USD
• Kimberly Corbin, Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Jurupa USD

Michael provides a couple quick updates on the FAQ’s and Lisa and Kimberly discuss how their districts are planning to leverage their ELO-P funding.

Join us for our 36th fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education and Akilah Byrd, current Region 4 Director of Expanded Learning Programs out of the AlamedaCounty Office of Education and a former principal. Heather and Michael share some updates on the ELO-P funding and chat with Akilah about her experiences as a principal leveraging Expanded Learning at her school sites.

Access the funding details for Expanded Learning Opportunities Program including LEA Apportionment amounts: https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/elop.asp

Access the CDE ELO-P webpage: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ex/elopinfo.asp 

Join us for our 34th fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education and Lupita Cruz, Jennifer Cisneros, and Emily Wolk from Santa Ana Unified School District as they share how they have engaged in an intentional planning process around the new Expanded Learning Opportunities Program.

Resource: Santa Ana USD Planning Folder & Resources

Join us for our 32nd fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk and Sterling Williams from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education as they discuss key updates on the new Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P).

It is the intent of the new ELO-P to work with existing ASES and 21st CCLC programs to ultimately provide a single comprehensive expanded learning program for students in CA. FAQs to address some of the biggest initial questions are nearly final and likely to be released early next week. Another fireside chat will be filmed and released with the posting of the FAQs.

Reference: AB 130 (the Education Trailer Bill) 

Join us for our 30th fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education and Anthony Urias, Site Coordinator, and Brad Lupien, President & CEO from arc.

In this chat, we discuss key updates on the education budget, which has now passed out of the Assembly and Senate Subcommittees Finance committees, and how they impact our Expanded Learning Programs, including an increase to the ASES and 21st CCLC Daily Rate to $10.75 and $3.3 Billion in new funding for an Expanded Learning program similar to ASES to support TK-6 programs.

We continue to celebrate the unprecedented investment in Expanded Learning – recognizing the essential role of these programs to support our youth, families, and communities. We also recognize that there is still the need to ensure these dollars are structured in such a way to truly leverage the investment and support our staff and all of our youth, including middle and high school students.

Access the newest report on Promoting Protective Factors in California’s Afterschool Programs. 

Join us for our 27th fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network and Michael Funk from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education discuss several important policy updates on program flexibility for the 2021-2022 school year and on implementation and support of the AB 86 Expanded Learning Opportunity Grants.

Access More AB86 Details:

• AB86 COVID-19 Relief and School Reopening Grants 
• LEA Template for the Plan (DOCX; Added 25-Mar-2021) 
• In-Person Instruction and Expanded Learning Opportunities Funding Results

Join us for our 25th Fireside Chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network and Michael Funk from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education are joined by Erin Sipes and Athena McQuarry from Elk Grove Unified School District. We discuss several important policy updates on the signing of AB86 (in particular section 43522 of the bill), program flexibility, waivers, and audits, and the group chats about their learning hubs and planning efforts.

Access the full text of AB86 on Leg Info. 

Join us for our 23rd fireside chat. In this chat, Heather Williams from the California AfterSchool Network is joined by Michael Funk from the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education to share breaking news on grant extensions and other budget and legislation updates that impact California’s Expanded Learning programs. Below are resources and opportunities outlined during the chat.

• Opportunity for Input: Survey – Impact & Role of Expanded Learning During COVID 
• Resource: AB 104 Planning Tool
• Event: Registration Still Open for the Site Coordinator Symposium Feb 9-11 ​