Children’s Museum asks town/county for $50k for after-school programs

If your family depends on after-school coverage between 3–5 p.m., this is one of the funding requests that could help keep those seats available (and cheaper) next school year. The Jackson Hole Children’s Museum is asking the Town of Jackson and Teton County for a combined $50,000 in FY2027 human-services funding to support its K–5 after-school education programs, described as aimed at “supporting local working families.”

In the application summarized in the county’s staff report, the Museum says it serves more than 600 students a year in subsidized programming through a partnership with the Teton Literacy Center and the school district, using a weighted lottery to prioritize higher-need students and embedding Teton County School District paraprofessionals in classrooms. The organization also notes it now operates out of a new facility at 105 Mercill Ave. and receives a major non-cash subsidy there: below-market rent it estimates at roughly $135,000 a year.

Last year’s public funding, the Museum reports, helped subsidize after-school access for 110 students at Jackson Elementary and 62 at Colter Elementary, with program outcomes tracked through the Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes (SAYO). The big question for families: if the town/county budget comes in tight, does this $50k request get fully funded—because that’s the kind of line item that can translate into more (or fewer) affordable after-school spots when school lets out. Source: BCC Staff Report — Jackson Hole Children's Museum Funding Request FY27.