The City of Long Beach is pulling out of WRAP, the long‑running after‑school program it has helped operate for decades, and more than 80 city employees have been told their jobs could vanish in the process. Staff say they were notified at a June 15 meeting that their positions supporting before‑ and after‑school sites are slated to end on August 15, 2026, a timeline that parents and longtime employees describe as abrupt and deeply unsettling.
According to the Long Beach Post, WRAP offers free programming for transitional‑kindergarten through eighth‑grade students at seven campuses and has been anchored by the city’s Parks Department since 2002. Individual sites at Garfield, Edison, King, Grant, Lafayette, Burbank and Herrera typically serve about 85 to 160 students each, with part‑time WRAP staff usually working 20 to 30 hours per week.
District Hunts For New WRAP Operator
The Long Beach Unified School District is already preparing for what comes next. Its Board of Education is scheduled to consider replacement operators at the July 15 meeting, according to the Long Beach Unified School District meeting calendar.
The city’s Parks, Recreation and Marine Department has long been involved in running WRAP programming, a role highlighted in a press release celebrating youth participation in Black History Month events from the City of Long Beach. With the department stepping back, families are waiting to see who will take over and how different the program might look.
City Points To Budget Crunch, Staff Left In Limbo
City spokesperson Jennifer De Prez told the Long Beach Post the move “was made so that the department can focus its limited financial resources.” The Post also reports the city is staring down an estimated $61 million budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year…