Two long-standing after-school programs in Northeastern Pennsylvania with proven track records of helping students succeed could cease due to lack of grant funding.

Some 25 SHINE and ACHIEVE after-school programs could close after failing to receive the five-year, 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant with the funding shifting to Philadelphia.

“It is the first time in history that these program have been turned down for this funding,” state Sen. David Argall, R-29, said Thursday at a news conference at Maple Manor Elementary School in the Hazleton Area School District, which has a SHINE program.

Argall pointed out that ACHIEVE received the funding for 25 years, the Carbon-Schuylkill SHINE for 20 years and Luzerne SHINE for nine years.

“They have helped a lot kids in those years,” he said.

Argall expressed his disappointment in the state’s decision to shift the funds from Northeastern Pennsylvania and send it instead to Philadelphia.

“It’s just plain wrong,” he said. “Without this funding, we’ve calculated that close to 25 SHINE and ACHIEVE after-school centers will be closed, impacting thousands of students in Carbon, Schuylkill, Luzerne, Wayne and Pike counties.”

The programs help students who have been struggling with academics and attendance succeed and provide support in STEAM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, Argall said.

Closing the centers will also have a ripple effect in the communities they serve, which could be severe, he said.

“Childcare will be a problem,” Argall said. “If these centers have to close, working families will scramble for childcare in the summer, as well as after school.”

This region suffers from a serious workforce shortage, and the state Department of Education’s decision to shift funding away will make that problem worse, he said.

Argall plans to meet with the state education secretary in person and in writing on behalf of local legislators to look for other funding sources, “so that our children do not lose these vital services.”

Argall, as chairman of the Senate Education Committee, vowed public hearings will be held if he does not get assurances from the education secretary and the governor’s office.

Argall was joined by other legislators and educators from Luzerne, Carbon and Schuylkill counties, who hope to find a way to fund the programs for the children and parents who depend on them.

Also speaking on the issue were Representatives Dane Watro and Jamie Barton, as well as Hazleton Area Superintendent Brian Uplinger and Nanticoke Superintendent Ron Grevera. Also represented were state Sens. Lisa Baker and Rosemary Brown, and U.S. Reps. Susan Wild and Dan Meuser.

Among the 24 elementary schools expected to be affected by the closures of these centers are: Tamaqua, Panther Valley, Weatherly, Palmerton, Mahanoy Area, North Schuylkill, as well as the Carbon Career and Technical Institute.

Of the $27 million in grant funding allocated for after school programs, only 11.48% went to rural schools, while 54% went to urban school and for-profit entities, said Shannon Brennan, interim executive director of Intermediate Unit 29 and director of CTE, Schuylkill Technology Center.

Carol Nicholas, executive director of SHINE of Luzerne County at Wilkes University, called the results of the lack of funding devastating.

More than 800 kids won’t have a safe place to go after school, won’t get help with homework, won’t benefit from STEAM lessons, wont’ have hands-on learning tools such as robotics or coding, won’t receive a hot meal, she said.

And parents won’t have child care that allows them to go to work, feed their families, pay bills and maintain homes, Nicholas said.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley said his own daughter participated in the SHINE program and now is working at Disney while working toward her college degree.

“By providing engaging and enriching activities, SHINE has succeeded not only in keeping kids in school, but active in their passion for learning,” he said, noting the program’s numbers back it up.

“It’s really giving students the tools that they need to thrive in school and beyond,” Heffley said, pointing to Panther Valley, one of the state’s poorest districts at the forefront of a fair funding effort in the state, as needing the resources, as do all districts in Carbon County and NEPA.

Panther Valley Superintendent Dave McAndrew Jr., who is attending the state Association of Rural and Small Schools conference this week, said SHINE is an integral part of his district.

“It benefits so many of our neediest students,” he said. “The program provides tutoring, social, emotional activities and dinner.

“We desperately need to find a way to fund and preserve this program,” McAndrew said.

Rachel Strucko, director of SHINE in Carbon and Schuylkill counties, said the cuts will really hit the already at-risk communities she serves, which are dealing with food insecurity, transportation and homelessness.

“A quality after school program is one way to combat a lot of the issues that we’re struggling with in Carbon and Schuylkill counties,” she said. “I hope after people hear this, that we can work together to figure something out.”

The funding cuts could leave a shadow of a program which has helped both children and families through a holistic approach. Some 400 children are affected in her coverage area alone.

Hundreds of children won’t see hot meals or a safe place from 3 to 7 p.m., which are the most critical hours for children, Strucko said. Families won’t have access to family engagement, GED or ESL classes or childcare in an area that is “a childcare desert,” she said.

“It impacts the community greatly,” Strucko said.

And the shift in grant funding doesn’t affect a couple of towns, but programs in all of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Argall said, which is why both Democrats and Republicans are standing together with one voice on the issue.

“We hope to get some answers as to what’s the next step and where do we find the funding, so that these terrible cuts do not take effect,” he said.