Boys & Girls Clubs and Communities In Schools account for nearly two-thirds of the proposed Kids Hope Alliance renewal worksheet. The next question is how Jacksonville measures the students served and the results purchased.

Jacksonville’s Kids Hope Alliance (KHA) proposed $27,273,624 in afterschool and summer program contract renewals for FY 2026–27. The largest proposed recipient is Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, with approximately $11.48 million across its regular program rows and four separately listed literacy pilot sites. Communities In Schools of Jacksonville follows at approximately $6.36 million. Together, the two organizations account for 65.4% of the worksheet total. kidshopealliance.org

These are proposed contract amounts in KHA’s March 25 board packet, not a ledger of payments already made. They also cover school-year and summer programming, despite the worksheet’s “Afterschool” heading. KHA said staff developed its renewal recommendations using program performance, service outcomes and contract compliance; the published worksheet makes the proposed dollars and planned capacity much easier to compare than provider-by-provider results. 

Which Jacksonville Afterschool Providers Receive the Most KHA Funding?

Method: proposed annual contract amount divided by the worksheet’s planned school-year spaces. Annual amounts include summer funding where applicable; this is a scale comparison, not an actual cost per student served. Sites with zero proposed funding are excluded from the site counts. Figures are calculated from KHA’s March renewal worksheet and rounded for display. 

The ranking reveals both concentration and breadth. The top two providers account for about $17.84 million, leaving roughly $9.43 million spread across the other proposed contracts. Smaller organizations operate programs too, but the financial decisions affecting Boys & Girls Clubs and Communities In Schools have an outsized effect on the overall afterschool portfolio. 

The table also exposes a problem with describing KHA’s reach as simply “6,000 students.” These seven providers alone have 7,020 planned school-year spaces in the worksheet. A planned space is not necessarily a distinct child, a child attending every day, or a verified enrollment. Any figure of approximately 6,000 participants may describe a different year or measure; it should not be presented as the total capacity of this proposed renewal worksheet without reconciliation. 

What Counts as “Additional Funding” for the Two Largest Providers?

Boys & Girls Clubs has approximately $9.52 million in its regular group of program rows. Four separately listed literacy pilot sites bring another $1.97 million in total proposed contract value, producing the approximately $11.48 million provider figure. Within those four pilot contracts, the worksheet identifies about $807,179 as “additional funding.”

Communities In Schools has approximately $4.28 million in its regular program rows and $2.07 million across four separately listed literacy pilot sites. Its combined proposed amount is therefore approximately $6.36 million; the four pilot contracts contain $849,600 labeled “additional funding.” The additional funding is already included in the pilot contract totals and in KHA’s $27.27 million worksheet total. Adding it again would double-count it. 

The distinction matters because the pilot money is not distributed evenly. The four Boys & Girls Clubs sites each show about $201,795 in additional funding; the four Communities In Schools sites each show $212,400. KHA’s packet identifies the amounts and locations, but a useful public comparison would also show the added literacy services, participation and outcomes attributable to those dollars. kidshopealliance.org

What Does KHA’s Funding per Student-Day Actually Show?

For most school-year rows, KHA’s worksheet uses a planned rate of $14.41 per student-day. Many summer rows use $25 per student-day, while scheduled days and certain program costs vary. Those are the worksheet’s budgeting rates for planned service, not a calculation of what the city ultimately spent for each day a student attended. 

For example, a standard 80-space, 170-day school-year program calculates to approximately $195,976 at the $14.41 rate. Summer service, security and pilot funding can raise the site’s annual contract above that amount. To calculate actual cost per student-day, the public would need the final amount paid and verified attendance days for that particular contract. Dividing a full-year award by planned capacity cannot answer that question. 

This is the fair way to read differences in the table. Tiphne DarShay Hollis Foundation’s approximately $4,692 per planned school-year space is higher than the comparable figure for the two largest providers, but the annual award also includes summer programming. A higher blended figure does not, by itself, establish waste or better service; it identifies where service schedules and actual attendance need to be examined before drawing a conclusion. 

Why Does Communities In Schools Deserve a Closer Look?

Communities In Schools is the second-largest provider in this renewal map, with 22 funded sites and 1,930 planned school-year spaces when its regular and literacy pilot rows are combined. Its programs range from elementary schools to middle and high schools. That mix matters when comparing contracts: four of its high-school rows, for example, budget 109 school-year days, while many other rows budget 170. 

The organization has deep roots in Jacksonville. Its published history says it began operating the first four city-funded afterschool programs in 1998, under the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, KHA’s predecessor. CEO Leon Baxtonjoined the organization in 1991 and became CEO in 2019; Bryan Jones is its director of afterschool programs. Its publicly posted 2023 Form 990, covering the year ended June 30, 2024, reports $185,825 in organizational compensation for Baxton. That dated figure should be distinguished from his current pay and from the proposed KHA contract total. 

Its board roster also merits transparent examination. Communities In Schools lists Mayor Donna Deegan, Duval schools Superintendent Christopher Bernier, Sheriff T.K. Waters and State Attorney Melissa Nelson, among other civic and business leaders. Their listed board membership establishes an affiliation; it does not establish that any of them selected a KHA award, voted on a contract or received a personal benefit. The pertinent oversight questions are what roles board members have in funding decisions, whether relevant disclosures exist, and how KHA handles decisions involving organizations whose boards include public officials. 

Boys & Girls Clubs, led by President and CEO Paul Martinez, likewise publishes its leadership and board roster. Its board lists a member affiliated with the City of Jacksonville. The same standard should apply across providers: identify the relationship accurately, then examine documented decision-making and safeguards before suggesting that an affiliation influenced an award. bgcnf.org

Do Published Attendance and Outcome Reports Allow a Fair Comparison?

There is evidence that afterschool services matter. KHA’s published study using 2018–19 and 2019–20 student data found favorable school attendance and discipline measures among program participants, with stronger measures for students attending at least 60 days. That is useful system-level evidence, but it predates these proposed contracts and does not provide a current, common scorecard for every provider in the ranking. 

Providers publish results in different forms. Communities In Schools posts impact reports, audited statements and Form 990s, while its public materials discuss outcomes across several services, including case management and afterschool programs. Boys & Girls Clubs publishes organization-wide participation figures covering multiple Northeast Florida counties. Neither type of organization-wide figure can automatically be assigned to the specific Duval sites funded in KHA’s March worksheet. Communities In Schools

A prior KHA finance worksheet did include a site-level column describing changes in English language arts scores. The March 2026 renewal table, however, principally presents proposed capacity, days, rates and funding. Publishing the same attendance, participation intensity and outcome measures alongside each renewed contract would let residents test whether KHA’s stated performance-based renewal process is applied consistently.

How Do KHA Programs Fit Within Duval Schools’ Nearly 15,000 Daily Afterschool Participants?

Duval County Public Schools says its before- and after-school services operate at more than 150 sites, with nearly 15,000 students participating every day. The district explicitly lists KHA-funded programs among its non-fee or reduced-fee offerings, alongside fee-based programs. That means the district’s number and a KHA participation number can overlap; they cannot be added to produce a countywide total. Duval County Public Schools

Likewise, dividing a claimed 6,000 KHA students by 15,000 daily district participants yields 40% as arithmetic, but it does not establish that KHA meets 40% of Jacksonville’s need. The first number needs a defined year and attendance measure, the second is a daily participation estimate, and some KHA students may already be included in the district count. The proposed worksheet’s planned spaces provide a third, different measure.

Jacksonville’s unmet need therefore has no defensible percentage from these figures alone. Calculating one would require a defined population of families seeking afterschool care, deduplicated enrollment across providers, available spaces by location and age group, waitlists, affordability, and participation among children outside district-operated programs. Until those measures are published together, the city can describe how much it proposes to fund, but it cannot show what share of potential need its contracts meet. 

What Should Jacksonville Publish Before the Next Round of Renewals?

KHA already publishes unusually detailed proposed site allocations. The next step is a provider-by-provider results table matching each contract to planned spaces, distinct children enrolled, average daily attendance, total verified student-days, final payments and consistently defined outcomes. The table should distinguish regular programming, summer service and literacy pilot additions, so residents can see what each funding stream purchased. 

That would put the question at the center of this Public Money Pipeline series on firmer ground. Jacksonville is proposing a substantial investment in children, with approximately 42% of this worksheet directed to Boys & Girls Clubs and 23% to Communities In Schools. Residents should be able to see whether the same rules for allocating money and demonstrating results follow every provider, from the largest network to the smallest neighborhood program. 

Methodology note: This analysis uses the “Afterschool” exhibit in KHA’s March 25, 2026 board packet. It combines regular and separately listed literacy pilot contract rows by provider, counts sites with positive proposed funding, and sums planned school-year spaces. The $27.27 million is the exhibit’s proposed renewal total, which should not be treated interchangeably with KHA’s separately presented out-of-school-time budget category or with final expenditures.

Public Money Pipeline IX

Public Money Pipeline VIII:

Public Money Pipeline VII: Understanding the Kids Hope Alliance

The Public Money Pipeline Part VI

The Public Money Pipeline Part V

The Public Money Pipeline Part IV

The Public Money Pipeline Part III

The Public Money Pipeline Part II

The Public Money Pipeline Part I