Community Schools started in the Saranac Lake Central School District in 2018 as a way to ensure that the district’s children have the best home life possible. SLCSD Distinguished Alumni Awards event organizer Clyde Baker said it’s a way to keep kids from falling through the cracks that society leaves.

Community School Liason Erika Bezio said it provides families with basic needs, crisis assistance, mental breaks, educational opportunities and just plain fun.

Community Schools started with weekly trips to the North County Community College pool. Now, it’s expanded to include bussing students to the dentist, taking them bowling, sending them home for the weekend with backpacks full of easy-to-prepare food, providing parents with rental assistance or supplying them with hats and gloves.

Bezio said the number of families they serve increases every year — in part because the needs of families are increasing, and in part because Community Schools offers unique or high-demand services that no one else offers.

Abby Walkow, Josie Martin, Eliza Endries and Jackson Laubach are four of the Saranac Lake high schoolers who took a trip to the Statue of Liberty on Oct. 26 through the Community Schools’ 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. This grant is set to expire a year earlier than expected. A benefit dinner this weekend will raise money for Community Schools’ other efforts. (Provided photo — Diane Fox)

“It’s amazing what she gets done,” Baker said.

Baker started the awards after he got off the school board as a way to still give back to the school community. The event has raised $8,000 for the Community Schools program.

The fourth annual SLCSD Distinguished Alumni Awards will be held on Saturday at the Hotel Saranac. The event will feature a cocktail hour, dinner, the honoring of two successful SLCSD graduates and a silent auction benefiting the local Community Schools program.

This year, the alumni are Suzanne Dugan and Richard Meyer.

The event starts at 5:30 p.m.

Hailey Relyea and Lily Latham are two of the Saranac Lake high schoolers who took a trip to the Statue of Liberty on Oct. 26 through the Community Schools’ 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. (Provided photo — Diane Fox)

Tickets cost $75 and reservations can be made by emailing clydebaker81@gmail.com.

The silent auction will include gift certificates to local restaurants and shops, merchandise and 13 works of art — paintings, sculptures and neon signs — from local artists. Baker estimates the total value of the auction items at between $3,000 and $4,000.

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21st Century

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Baker said the fundraiser is especially important to him this year, since the Community Schools’ 21st Century Schools grant might be ending sooner than expected. The 21st Century grant provides out-of-school opportunities for students and their families — before and after school, during summer and on weekends.

“21st Century has really changed the way we do school,” Bezio said. “(It’s provided) thousands of hours of high-quality out-of-school time, enrichment and academic programming.”

It’s taken kids to stand-up paddleboarding classes, reading and writing workshops, kickball tournaments, trips to the Statue of Liberty, arts courses, sing-alongs, maple weekends, exercise days, mini golf, gardening, street hockey, rail trail bike rides, story camp, digital photography, making fairy houses, adopt a stuffed pet, mini Olympics, exploring caves, an innovators workshop, dance and ceramics classes, police camp, blueberry farm visits and plein air painting.

At every event, Bezio said they sneak in their “secret mission” — education, social skills and assistance.

They always have signups for their food programs and have information about heating and rental assistance at the events.

It’s a mixture of fun and reality, Bezio said. Community Schools organizers are also there in the midst of family tragedy and crisis — fires, deaths, insurance issues.

“I think that our students know more now than ever about their families’ needs,” Bezio said.

People are proud and it is hard to ask for help, she said.

Her favorite services are the ones that bring joy.

Last weekend, they held a “Saturday Academy” event where 87 families carved jack-o-lanterns, learned about pumpkins, met sloths and lizards, had lunch, made smoothies and picked up ingredients at a free farmer’s market.

Bloomingdale Elementary teacher Megan Funk ran a Swiftie fan club for two weeks this summer, where 13 fans of Taylor Swift met to enjoy the pop star’s music.

But the grant might end one year earlier than it is supposed to.

SLCSD got the five-year grant in 2021. The school just entered into it’s fourth year of the grant.

Bezio said the grant would end naturally in June 2027, but might end early on Sept. 30, 2026. The federal government is rolling back grants and intending to close the U.S. Education Department. The 21st Century grant has been promised to continue this year through next summer, but the final year of the grant is up in the air.

This summer, it wasn’t clear if the grant would last through this year. On July 3, Bezio was sending an email out to teachers and vendors telling them she was devastated to hear the grant would not be offered this year. Just before she hit “send,” a NYSED employee let her know the money was approved.

Not even the state leaders know what will happen with the grant money.

The grant is for $756,000 per year. If it does run out next September, Bezio said they’ll have to stop offering the fun events they do now.

“So unless the fairy godmother is showing up to the alumni recognition, we’re not looking to have Community Schools funding supplant 21st Century,” she said.

Bezio said if the grant becomes available again she would reapply “immediately.”

Community Schools also helps run two food pantries with the local Joint Council for Economic Opportunity.

The district has offered free breakfast and lunch at school for the past two years. Still, Bezio said she’s seen an increase in the use of the food pantries over the years. With SNAP food assistance benefits running out this weekend amid a 32-day-long government shutdown, she think they’ll probably see a sharp increase in the near future.

Bezio said if any family is worried about having enough food, they can reach out to their student’s building administrator to get added to the weekend backpack list. This list does not have income guidelines for applying.

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ALICE

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The international nonprofit organization United Way’s has annual reports on working families who are above the federal poverty line but still struggle to pay for all the necessities of life — what they call Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, or, ALICE. The latest report is for 2023. It shows that the number of people who are just barely making ends meet is growing.

In the 2022 report, 27% of Franklin County households were below the ALICE threshold and 30% of Essex County households were below. In the 2023 report, 42% of Franklin County households were below the ALICE threshold and 41% of Essex County households were below.

In 2022, the report calculated the bare minimum monthly cost to live and work in Franklin County for an adult with one child (not in child care) at $3,505. That required an hourly wage of $21.03.

In 2023, this lifestyle cost $3,689 a month, which required a $22.13 hourly wage.

In 2022, the report calculated the bare minimum monthly cost to live and work in Essex County for an adult with one child (not in child care) at $3,723. That required an hourly wage of $22.34.

In 2023, this lifestyle cost $3,995 a month, which required a $23.97 hourly wage.

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Alumni

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The Saranac Lake alumni being honored this year are Suzanne Dugan and Richard Meyer.

Dugan graduated in 1982 and currently lives in Clifton Park. She’s worked in the state Supreme Court, the Comptroller’s office and the Ethics Commission. She currently serves as special counsel to the Cohen Milstein law firm, leading the firm’s ethics and fiduciary counseling practice, which she helped found. She is also the president of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys.

Meyer graduated in 1972. He was elected as an Essex County judge in 2005 and was appointed as an acting Supreme Court Judge in 2008, filling in on the state court when needed. He was previously a Saranac Lake village attorney, Essex County Attorney and a member of the SLCSD Board of Education.

Full biographies of the alumni can be found at tinyurl.com/mt2mzy3a.