Augusta youth program feels state budget cut heading into new school year

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A state budget cut is reducing the number of children Mach Academy can serve.

Faith Henderson, a coach at MACH Academy, said the program offers students more than athletic training.

“It’s not just the physical aspect. It’s the mental, it’s the character, the education. We have so much to offer to these kids and they need it,” Henderson said.

Henderson said she works with students individually through an educational enrichment component of the program.

“I come in with our educational enrichment program so I can give attention to individual students one at a time each day to help get to where they need to be” she said.

Funding cuts reduce enrollment

Michael Harden, president and CEO of MACH Academy, said the budget reduction has cut summer enrollment nearly in half.

“We have served in the past 60 to 70 kids. That reduction has limited us to maybe 30 to 40 kids this summer,” Harden said.

Helen Thomas-Pope, operations manager at MACH Academy, said the cuts are also affecting the program’s ability to prepare students for the upcoming school year.

“What we try to do is help them be prepared when they go back to school. We would like to do that as best we can. But I’m not sure that we’ll be able to be as successful as we have been in the past,” Thomas-Pope said.

Thomas-Pope said the four-day-a-week schedule may also need to change.

“Unfortunately, some kids may not have the opportunity to come out. Currently, our program is four days a week. And we may have to do more of a rotation where not all kids are able to come for the four days,” she said.

Staff commitment

Despite the reduced funding, Henderson said staff remain committed to the program’s mission.

“I grew up here. All of the coaches here, we grew up here or we started with MACH Academy and have come back to give back to MACH Academy because we believe in what MACH Academy does,” she said.