SPOKANE, Wash. — Parents will have fewer summer camp options for their children this year. Local PBS station KSPS has canceled its free summer camp program after losing Department of Education funding this week.
“We walked in the door Monday morning and, ‘oh, by the way, the budget is cut. Stop all programming,'” said Angela Riley, Education Director at KSPS.
This funding loss comes on top of President Trump’s recent executive order that blocked federal support from NPR and PBS.
“Normal isn’t here anymore,” said Gary Stokes, President of KSPS.
While the station expected changes from the presidential order, the Department of Education’s funding cut was unexpected. KSPS was among 44 stations nationwide using the ‘Right to Learn’ grant to fund kids programming and community resources.
Riley organizes learning events for the region, including after-school programs and summer camps. Those have now been cancelled.
Over the past three years, hundreds of families have attended these outreach events.
“These are very big numbers of people that we have touched in the past and we could have touched in the future,” Riley said.
The station has built more than just television programming.
“We have managed to build not only a great television station, but a great community,” Stokes explained. “A lot of those things are going to start to go away the longer this goes on.”
The education department at KSPS says they’re trying to save these real-life connections despite the budget cuts.
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