The San Diego Unified School District will offer free after-school child care for all elementary and middle school students starting next school year.
The district’s PrimeTime program is already at all 144 elementary and middle schools in the district, but space has been limited. At the start of the 2025-26 school year, about 7,000 students were on the waitlist.
The demand has grown over the last several years, said Tobie Pace, the district’s senior director of extended learning opportunities.
“Working families in San Diego County need quality, safe places for their kids to go,” she said.
The California Department of Education provides funding for after-school programs through the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program. Last year, San Diego Unified moved to a new tier of funding from the program, allowing the district to expand access to PrimeTime.
This year has been a transition period, Pace said. The district has hired hundreds of additional staff members. The waitlist has shrunk to about 1,800 students. Enrollment grew from 13,000 students last year to 21,000 this year.
“The potential for next year is exciting,” she said. “We could enroll up to 30, even 40,000 kids in our after-school program now that we've received this funding.”
District leaders have also identified additional spaces at the schools where PrimeTime can operate next year, like classrooms and auditoriums. Staff-to-student ratios are one to 20 for first through eighth grade and one to 10 for TK and kindergarten.
The district partners with local organizations to run the PrimeTime program, including the YMCA and SAY San Diego. It’s more than child care, Pace said. Schools can offer things like tutoring, sports, STEM activities and more.
“Creating that after-school space where they're learning — not sitting on a computer or staring at a TV — but really engaging with each other, building friendships, learning communication skills, all of those things has been really amazing,” she said.
Enrollment starts on April 20 at 8 a.m. and closes May 1 at 3 p.m. Pace says parents will get an application link in a text and an email.
