Contact: Tyler McManus
Eastside Student Center
www.eastsidestudentcenter.org
[email protected]
(760) 920-1756

PRESS RELEASE

BISHOP UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT ABRUPTLY SEVERS PARTNERSHIP WITH EASTSIDE STUDENT CENTER

For nearly three years, 5th- and 6th-grade students enrolled in the Bishop Unified School District have benefited from the District’s partnership with the Eastside Student Center, but on Monday, May 11, BUSD Superintendent Katie Kolker informed Eastside Student Center Executive Director Tyler McManus of the District’s intent to abruptly terminate the relationship at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.

BUSD receives funding annually from the California Department of Education’s Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P) and, in turn, is required to provide afterschool programming that meets the Department’s standards for TK through 6th grade. Since 2023, BUSD has contracted the Eastside Student Center to serve 5th and 6th grade while conducting TK through 4th at Bishop Elementary School, a program known as Ram’s Club.

For the 2025-2026 year, BUSD received $1,568,000 for ELO-P from the state and allocated $392,000 to the Eastside Student Center—25% of the budget for providing afterschool services for 25% of the grades. The Eastside Student Center team fully anticipated continuing this collaboration next year and presented key takeaways to the BUSD board at its meeting on March 12. However, this week, citing an inability to allocate more than $194,000 to the Eastside Student Center, which the Center had previously deemed insufficient to run its operation, the District has decided to “transition to an on-site ELOP model for TK-6 beginning in the 2026-2027 school year,” wrote Kolker, forcing the Eastside Student Center’s 5th and 6th grade operation to shutter this summer.

The Eastside Student Center’s Fowler Street location currently employs eight people whose careers are now in jeopardy. Most importantly, though, is the significant disruption this will cause to students and families who have come to rely on the safe, enriching environment the organization provides. Off-campus afterschool programming, McManus says, has been shown to improve youth mental health, and she worries about the District’s ability to transition to an on-site program for 5th and 6th graders on a short timeline with a reduced budget. The Eastside Student Center urges supporters to attend the BUSD Board Meeting this Thursday, May 14, at 6:30pm to express their desire for BUSD to reconsider its decision and reinstate its funding for the Center.

FOR RELEASE 11:00 A.M. PST, MAY 12, 2026

#EastsideStudent Center #BUSD #BishopUnified #SupportOurStudents #SaveEastside #EducationFunding #CommunityAlert #BishopCA #AfterSchoolPrograms #StudentWellness