SOUTH BEND — After more than two years of various votes and discussions, South Bend schools has terminated its partnership with EnrichYou, Inc., a contracted after-school program provider whose CEO is former SBCSC board trustee Leslie Wesley.
In May 2024, the board approved a memorandum of understanding with EnrichYou, in which the organization agreed to implement after-school opportunities for 120 students in eight of the district’s middle and high schools, using $1.4 million in federal money from a program called the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program (21CCLC). Trustees voted 4-2 to approve the agreement, with board members Mark Costello and Jeanette McCullough against the approval and Wesley abstaining.
Then, in May 2025, trustees voted 4-3 to terminate the agreement with EnrichYou, with trustees Kate Lee, Marcus Ellison and Stuart Greene voting against termination. But in July 2025, the board voted 4-2 to reinstate EnrichYou, with Costello, McCullough and Bill Sniadecki against reinstatement.
During a board meeting on Monday, June 29, the board again voted to terminate SBCSC’s agreement with EnrichYou in a 3-2 vote, with trustees Lee and Ellison against the termination, Greene absent and Carlos Leyva abstaining.
While a majority of the trustees present on Monday night voted to terminate, there was some question about whether the vote was sufficient without a majority of the entire board in agreement. But board attorney Pete Agostino said the motion carried under board bylaw 0167.1.
According to the action item on BoardDocs, the district has 60 days to provide written notice of termination. And during his closing remarks, Sniadecki told attendees that this doesn’t mean that SBCSC won’t offer after-school programs anymore; rather, they’ll be run solely by the district rather than a contracted community partner.
EnrichYou’s Wesley attended Monday’s meeting and addressed the board about the vote during the public comment portion.
“Tonight’s vote is about much more than a memorandum of understanding,” she said. “It is about whether hundreds of students will continue to have access to a free, safe, school-based after-school program that helps them live, grow and thrive.”
Leslie said more than 20 SBCSC employees work in the organization’s after-school programs, and community members signed a petition asking for the programs to continue, which she said was sent to trustees.
“If there are concerns about it with you, I want you to know that we remain willing to listen, collaborate and work together towards a solution,” she told the board. “We have never stopped believing that the partnership is possible.”
Riley High School alumnus Jorge Juarez also spoke Monday night. He said his time in EnrichYou’s “Pathways 2 Success” program provided mentorship and internship opportunities.
“Before learning about the program of Pathways 2 Success, some days at school would feel empty in the sense that I felt there was more to my education than just going to school, taking information and doing assignments,” Juarez said. “… And so to be able to have that guidance from Pathways 2 Success and operate in excellence and know what it means to make courageous connections and be a courageous leader myself was a really great thing.”
But some trustees previously said they believe SBCSC can offer effective after-school programs without contracting them out. During the vote to terminate last May, Sniadecki said SBCSC needs to “get back to the business of teaching kids.”
“When we’re going to hold the after-school programs, we’re going to make sure it’s done properly,” he said last May. “… This is for our kids, this is strictly for our kids.”
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Rayleigh Deaton at rdeaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend schools ends agreement with after-school program EnrichYou
Reporting by Rayleigh Deaton, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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By Rayleigh Deaton, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
