B & G CLUB - TRIBUNE ARTICLE 4/26 - PLEASE READ
Attn: Parents and concerned community members:
Due to an organizational merger and reorganization, our Pacifica B &G clubhouses are faced with closing. We have appealed to City Council and have not had a solid offer to help.
We ask for the following:
1) A city council sponsored study session with B & G club leadership to clear the air and inform parents.
2) A firm commitment from city council to fight to keep the club open.
3) Any closure or re-organization agreement presented to the city council must be reviewed and approved by the people affected-- the parents and their students.
4) Pacifica clubhouses are being singled out for closure, for absolutely NO reason. 400 children will have NOWHERE else to go after school, there is NO plan or alternative solution.
Please read the Pacifica Tribune below from Tuesday 4/26/22:
In Solidarity,
Erin Pickett
Link to our Petition:
https://chng.it/GQ8M9LrX
Link to our FB Page: Parents Against B & G Club Closure
https://www.facebook.com/groups/659467005125545
Parents ask council for help with club’s fate
By Jane Northrop
Parents from the Boys and Girls Club in Pacifica asked City Council for a study session to discuss the future of the clubs after learning they may be closed in the fall if a merger with Peninsula Boys and Girls Club continues.
“This was revealed to us by a staff member who realized that to continue to keep parents in the dark about these closures would be an incredible injustice to the children in our community.,” said Boys and Girls Club parent Erin Pickett at the April 25 City Council meeting,
Her public comment went on to say the Pacifica families of the Boys and Girls Club and the surrounding community have been shut out of any communication or conversation about these closures.
“As it stands now, Pacifica is poised to endure the complete loss of the Boys and Girls Clubs, both at (Ingrid B. Lacy Intermediate School) and Yosemite campuses. There are no other options for our children to go. As of this writing we have more than 1,075 signatures on our petition to save this club.”
“Behind these voices who signed, are thousands more who are rightfully angered and outraged over the callous disregard we are experiencing at the hands of the Boys and Girls Club board members and their CEO,” she said, “To that end, I call upon the City Council tonight to hold a public study session within a week, with invited Boys and Girls Club leadership to fully discuss the situation.”
Pickett also said that if and when an agreement is reached, the parents and the community will require a formal review of the agreement to determine if it meets the needs of the students.
“Families need to ensure any new agreement will not be a way to delay closure for one to two years,” she said, “A clear statement is required from our City Council that Pacifica Boys and Girls Club stay open.”
Jennifer Bates said she has a child with autism and ADHD at the club and that there are no other places for her to go.
“Boys and Girls Club provides a space for social skills she cannot get from the school system that are critical for her emotional growth. They are great at it,” she said. “This could force us to need to be transferred to another school at eighth grade and have to rebuild her entire support system. Please help us stop the closure.”
Mayor Mary Bier wrote an email to Pickett in which she referred to waiting for an official Boys and Girls Club board press release. She said the matter was not on the agenda for discussion that night, so elected officials could not discuss it. The council members did address the comments they heard about the Boys and Girls Club during the open public comment period.
Councilmember Mike O’Neill said he is a former board member for the local Boys and Girls Club.
“I know how beneficial they are. I always saw happy kids,” he said. “I have been talking to board members here and on the Peninsula. Things are moving along. There are non-disclosure agreements. There are legal boundaries. The work should be settled by the end of this week. I know the community has a stake in keeping the Boys and Girls Club open.”
Mayor Pro Tem Tygarjas Bigstyck said he knows the Boys and Girls Club is a big deal in the community.
“I am reaching out to folks about this,” he said. “Hopefully we will have something coming this week.”