HOUSTON — A Spring Branch ISD school program that was initially bound for changes due to budget cuts is now getting a boost from the community.
Days ago, the district announced the SPIRAL Program, an accelerated learning program for students from 3rd to 5th grade, will be kept in its current form thanks to community donations.
Parents said around 400 families and several businesses stepped up to assist the SPIRAL program, which stands for Spring Branch Program for Improving Reasoning and Accelerated Learning.
More than 1,000 students take advantage of the program, which teaches subjects including chemistry, economics, ancient civilizations and much more.
“It’s a very invigorating program and keeps them really engaged with school,” Clair Silliman, whose kids are in the program but attend Wilchester Elementary School.
District leaders made several cuts and changes due to a $35 million budget shortfall.
“The kids were doing fantastic. They were marketing, selling the lemonade, making the lemonade…they were talking about this program and how much it means to them,” PTA President Nicole Hobson said.
Hobson said they were able to raise more than $570,000 for the SPIRAL Program. She said the program is one of a kind.
“There are 30 percent of students who come to Bendwood, are from title 1 schools, for them they don’t have the same level of resources,” Hobson said.
According to the district’s website, around 900 children in 3rd through 5th grade spend one day per week in a challenging program at the Bendwood campus.
District budget cuts would’ve “restructured” the program, and the program material would be delivered at students’ home campuses instead of Bendwood, according to a letter from Spring Branch ISD’s superintendent.
“We applaud the efforts of the Bendwood PTA and thank Cece Thompson and the staff of the Spring Branch Education Foundation for partnering with the Bendwood PTA to receive and process donations in support of the SPIRAL program,” SBISD Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Blaine wrote in a statement.
The program will be kept in its current structure for the upcoming school year, but Hobson said they are evaluating how they can keep the program sustained in the long term.
“We’re not able to rely on the state for funding of this program, that’s the reality of the situation we’re in,” Hobson said.