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On Tuesday, the Troup County School System announced via Facebook that due to staffing shortages, there may be a limited number of slots open for the After Class Enrichment (ACE) program. This year the number of requests for ACE services is larger than the number of students the program can functionally support.

“Just as other businesses and organizations are struggling to find workers, our schools are experiencing the same difficulties in trying to hire workers to meet the demands of our ACE program,” said Deana Brown, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum Instruction and Professional Learning. “We want to serve all students in need of affordable after school-care, and to continue to provide an extended day care facility for the community.”

A lottery system is utilized to assign students to open spots in the ACE program. The lottery for the 22-23 school year has already been held based on the number of employees currently available to help serve students.

At the moment, there are 675 students who have applied to be a part of the ACE program, according to Brown.

“We are currently serving 400 of those students,” Brown said. “We have 275 students on the waiting list.”

Brown said ACE is currently offered at Callaway, Clearview, Ethel Kight, Franklin Forest, Hillcrest, Hollis Hand, Long Cane, Rosemont, and West Point elementary schools.

The schools that have been the most impacted by the staffing shortage are Rosemont and Franklin Forest Elementary. Rosemont has 169 students total in need of ACE services, and Franklin Forest had 138 students in need of ACE services, Brown said.   

Callaway Elementary, Rosemont Elementary, Franklin Forest Elementary and Long Cane Elementary currently have a waiting list for ACE. They are also the schools in county with the highest demand for services, Brown said.

As the program hires workers, students on the waiting list will be accepted into ACE.

“Our goal is to provide services to all students who are on the waiting list, and we are working diligently to recruit, process, and train applicants,” she said.

TCSS is currently in the middle of processing new ACE employees. At the time of printing, the program needs eight additional employees to completely serve the students that have applied for ACE across the district.

“We must conduct background checks as well as provide training such as CPR for employees prior to being able to place them at an ACE location,” Brown said.

Applicants interested in being an ACE Worker can apply on www.troup.org. Once on the website, click the Departments Tab, then Human Resource, employment, Applitrack, then click support staff. Applicants must have a high school diploma, previous experience working with children, a clear background check, and must attend mandatory training such as CPR training prior to being assigned to a ACE location.

The cost for a student to attend ACE is $7 per day, and $5 for each additional student in the household. ACE students are under supervision from the end of each school day until 6 p.m.