We Came. We Learned. We Boosted.
Palm Springs brought the sunshine, but BOOST 2025 brought the spark. This year’s summit reminded us: California’s Expanded Learning movement isn’t just thriving—it’s transforming.
Michael Funk of the CDE delivered it straight: “The one thing our expanded learning people [in California] shouldn’t be worried about is funding.” For the past three years, California Department of Education has launched the one of the most ambitious education initiatives in recent history, the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P), by allocating more than $4 billion dollars a year directly to LEAs to build up the out-of-school time programming at every school in California. This is posed to close the largest glaring opportunity gap in education and lead the entire nation in this ambitious direction.
Let that sink in.
But with great investment comes the need for bold, strategic action. This newsletter is packed with key takeaways—from braided funding insights to staff burnout realities—and what they mean for the year ahead.
Ready to make bold moves? Let’s get into it.
$400M Left on the Table
71 districts didn’t spend a single cent of their allocated ELO-P funds. There has been a total of $400 million unused funds. The good news? It hasn’t been clawed back—yet. Districts now have an extra year to use this funding, but the pressure is on to act with urgency and strategy.
Even more significant? There’s an active proposal to increase funding. ELO-P differentiated funding for two tiers: More funding is allocated to Tier 1 districts with a high percentage of free reduced lunch students based on the total number of enrolled students. Tier 2 districts receive funding for just low socio-economical students. A proposal is underway to lower the Tier 1 percentage from 75% to 55%, effectively providing more funding to more students.
We’re standing at what Funk called “the trailhead of the brightest future I’ve ever seen.” And that means it’s time to lace up, plan boldly, act strategically and get moving—because this is one of the biggest opportunities in education history to innovate!
Braided Funding is the Way to Go
Rather than running separate programs for every funding source (ELO-P, ASES, ASSETs, 21st Century), the CDE recommends a braided funding model to simplify operations and maximize program impact:
One cohesive program for students and families. Multiple streams of support.
It’s about strategic resource use, alignment, and scale.
Challenges and Opportunities
From hallway chats to panel sessions, BOOST confirmed what we already knew:
Educators are exhausted. Staff turnover is high. But the impact of expanded learning? Off the charts:
- According to a study conducted by the Afterschool Alliance in June 2024, 80% of California parents say afterschool programs help them keep their jobs.
- Students in afterschool programs attend school more regularly and are 10% more likely to graduate on time.
- And yet—nationally, 81% of program providers are concerned about staffing.
We need strong systems—modern tools, simple, effective, and goal-oriented processes, and continuous quality improvement—that reduce burnout by streamlining administrative tasks, promote sustainability by enabling consistent program delivery year after year, and keep leaders focused on what truly matters: creating meaningful, impactful experiences for kids and maximizing student outcomes.
Let’s Keep the BOOST Going
From sunrise sessions to after-hours laughs, every moment reminded us: we’re part of something truly powerful.
About 6crickets: 6crickets is a one-stop cloud platform that modernizes and simplifies the expanded learning management for all education partners including districts, schools, providers, instructors, and families. It provides easy enrollments by families or staff, real-time attendance tracking for all parties, comprehensive reporting for ELO-P, ASES, and 21st CCLC, vendor coordination, syncing with the Student Information System, and translation to 100+ languages. In addition to accolades from our partners, 6crickets has been recognized by the prestigious National Science Foundation for its technological innovation in the out-of-school time.
Have questions about TierRate 2? Need help making your program sustainable? Curious how 6crickets supports braided funding?
We’re here. And we’re building alongside you.
Have questions about TierRate 2? Need help making your program sustainable? Curious how 6crickets supports braided funding?
We’re here. And we’re building alongside you.
Bright futures start now. Let’s build boldly.
Yours in Education,
6crickets Team
