Knowledge Hub, an after-school tutoring service, was suspended earlier this school year, citing budget constraints and low student engagement. Principal Charles Park explained with decreased funding, the program’s costs outweighed the benefits. The program, which offered homework assistance and tardy recovery opportunities, saw limited student engagement before closure, according to Park, which only added to the list of reasons for closure alongside the budget.
The Knowledge Hub employed two teachers and two Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) tutors, but struggled to attract consistent attendance.
“We just weren’t getting the turnout. If you’re one of the six or 12 kids who use it every day, right now you’re in there, you’re just not getting the teacher to show up and give you the tutoring,” Park said.
Since the program was advertised as a way for students to clear tardies in place of Saturday school, even though the Knowledge Hub is temporarily suspended, Park offered an alternative way to clear tardies with campus supervisors.
“If you do community service, you can wipe out a whole hour’s worth instead of just 15 minutes. We still want to provide students options for accountability and involvement,” Park said.
Due to this concern, Park addressed it by explaining that those improvements are funded separately through district-level capital improvement funds, not the school’s instructional budget.
“The school’s budget is complex. The move moves because for every overtime we do, every time sheet that comes in, every event that happens, it all affects how we allocate funds. Some funds are restricted for specific uses under the district plan,” Park said.
However, despite the suspension, Park emphasized that the program’s closure is not permanent. Administration plans to revisit the program’s funding later this semester as funding and staffing levels are reviewed.
“When we look at the budget, we have to look at how the money’s moving,” Park said.
At the time of the interview, Park estimated it would take approximately three weeks to get a clearer picture of the budget.
In the meantime, the school’s AVID program has introduced two new tutoring options to help fill the gap and an AVID Tutoring Center is open to all students in room C-2 from 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. daily.
AVID Coordinator and teacher Tiana Mayo explained that the new AVID Tutoring Center was created in response to a lack of academic support, but specifically in regard to AVID students.
“Our AVID students are required to do tutoring hours when they fall below a C, and so I wanted to give them my place to be able to complete those tutoring hours,” Mayo said.
Her goal is to make tutoring more accessible to those who may not have had an available space after Knowledge Hub’s closure. Although the new tutoring center mainly targets AVID students, it is open to anyone needing help.
“It’s mostly advertised to AVID because we do it through AVID Instagram. And, you know, all the AVID teachers, but we’re not turning away any students that are not in AVID,” Mayo said.
By offering help to all students, the AVID Tutoring Center builds an inclusive environment for academic growth. This also highlights a shift in focus from Knowledge Hub in both purpose and design. Knowledge Hub included clearing tardies and general tutoring; the new program focuses strictly on academics.
“Our primary focus is to get the kids that are not performing in their AVID to give them the extra support so that they can increase their grades, whether it’s their homework help or helping them understand a lesson. It’s not like for detention or social restriction or whatever. It’s not that. It’s mostly for the basis of improving grades,” Mayo said.
This change signals a shift toward prioritizing student learning over discipline recovery. Even with these new changes, Mayo recognizes that there is still a need for consistent academic support campus-wide.
“That’s a need, which is why I tried to fulfill the need. Because I know last year we had a spot, and this year we don’t — a spot for people to go to get extra support, and I know it’s in the process, but I was concerned about AVID students now, and it extends to others, right,” Mayo said.
As the semester continues, both administrators and coordinators are finding ways to restore student accessible tutoring for all students. Whether through budget adjustments or expanding on current AVID programs, the goal remains giving students a place to learn and succeed beyond the classroom.
