Twenty-seven schools in the Austin area are getting free or low-cost after-school care programs this year thanks to funding from a tax rate increase Travis County voters approved in 2024.
The programs will open at schools with the most economically disadvantaged students in the Austin, Manor and Del Valle school districts. More than 2,000 pre-K and elementary school students are expected to participate. The county is working on getting after school programs to Pflugerville ISD, too, according to county documents.
“This is really a huge deal for Del Valle ISD,” Del Valle Superintendent Matthew Gutierrez said. “90% of our students in our school district are considered coming from poverty.”
The after-school programs are the first investment the county has made since voters approved a tax hike in November to make child care more affordable.
Child care options in the Austin area have become harder to find and harder to afford since the pandemic, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said. Austin has the most expensive child care in the state, according to a 2024 report from Texas Workforce Commission.
On top of that, schools across the region are anticipating a loss in federal funding that supports after-school programs.
“Frankly our state government has been tone deaf here; our federal government has been tone deaf here,” Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion said. “But what we are trying to prove today is we understand that the only way we get the community we deserve is if we build it together.”
Travis County is also expected to approve a $24 million contract with Workforce Solutions on Tuesday, which will help create affordable child care slots for 1,000 kids.
Brown said the county is still working to fulfill the other promises made to the community during its campaign for the tax increase, including making child care available outside the typical 9-5 for parents working nontraditional hours, and incentivizing private companies to offer child care stipends to their employees. Brown said the county will approve several more child care-related contracts over the next two months.
