GREENFIELD — The local Upward Bound program that moved in 2021 from Northfield Mount Hermon School to Greenfield Community College announced on Tuesday that a lack of federal funding is forcing its closure after 55 years of serving college-bound students in western Massachusetts.

A post on GCC Upward Bound’s Facebook page stated the transfer to the community college resulted in a loss of “prior experience points,” which are added to final grant scores to ensure the continued funding of programs that demonstrate success in achieving Upward Bound goals and objectives.

“Program staff petitioned to get these points back, but the federal government refused to release the points to GCC. Without those points, it became virtually impossible to secure funding,” the post states. “We had hoped to continue providing services through alternative sources of grant funding, but this type of programming is not sustainable at GCC.”

Upward Bound was launched in the mid-1960s as one of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs. It is designed to assist low-income, first-generation college-bound students. It is described as a yearlong after-school program that includes an intensive summer camp preparing students for the next school year or helping them apply to colleges.

Tutors will continue to work with high school seniors preparing for college but Friday, Jan. 13, marks the final day for all other students in the local program.

‘A huge blow’

Upward Bound Program Director Sharon Gralnick and Breyana Roman, who serves as an assistant director, blame the community college’s administration for this loss.

“This was done to us. This did not have to be,” Gralnick told the Greenfield Recorder. “There was a lot that could have been done to change the situation, but there were choices made that led to this.”

Gralnick asserted that GCC has the money to continue the program but Anna Berry, the community college’s dean of students, said this is incorrect. Berry explained GCC was unable to get additional funding from the federal government over the summer, and that private monies that are now depleted allowed the program to survive as long as it has.

“We don’t have the resources to continue to fund this program into the future,” Berry said.

Upward Bound is one of the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal TRIO Programs, which are outreach and student services programs designed “to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.” A request for comment from the Department of Education was not returned on Thursday.

Berry said this decision was made “with a heavy heart” at the community college’s senior leadership level.

“It goes without saying that, of course, this is a huge blow to” Upward Bound students and alumni, she said. The program has averaged 90 public school students each year from Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties, including Greenfield, Holyoke, Springfield and surrounding communities.

Berry said GCC remains committed to serving high school students interested in attending college.

Changing locations

Gralnick explained this specific Upward Bound program started in 1967 on the Northfield Mount Hermon School campus until it switched locations in a move announced in July 2021 by GCC’s then-President Yves Salomon-Fernández and NMH Head of School Brian Hargrove, who said the shift would ensure the continuation of Upward Bound’s “vital mission of supporting the college aspirations of underserved high school students in western Massachusetts.”

Gralnick said NMH did not want the responsibility of a federal grant. But Hargrove told the Recorder his school worked tirelessly with the Department of Education to explore and identify the best possible host for Upward Bound. According to Hargrove, NMH was one of only a few high schools to serve as host, as this role is typically fulfilled by colleges and universities. The University of Massachusetts Amherst hosts a chapter.

“Initial conversations with Greenfield Community College confirmed its openness to host Upward Bound and TRIO reps supported the transition. It was our shared expectation that GCC would be well-positioned to work with Upward Bound going forward,” Hargrove wrote in an email. “Without question, complying with federal grants brings forth myriad responsibilities, from grant applications and administration to compliance with guidelines and laws associated with federal funding. After careful consideration, NMH made the very difficult decision that, while remaining fully supportive of Upward Bound, we could not continue to manage the associated requirements of hosting Upward Bound on our campus.

“I know that this is deeply disappointing to the extraordinary teams at Upward Bound and GCC,” he continued. “I can assure you that this is sad news for all of us at NMH. We hosted Upward Bound for 50 years; of course, it was our hope that Upward Bound would thrive in serving young people in the region for many more years to come.”

An unsure future

Gralnick and Roman are GCC employees. The college’s workers union successfully fought to keep Roman on payroll until May 31 but Gralnick, a non-union employee, is set to work her final day on Jan. 27.

Roman, who started with the program as an AmeriCorps volunteer in 2009, said she felt GCC Upward Bound was “hitting a good stride” after struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just been very heartbreaking. It’s been a very challenging couple of years,” she said, adding that it feels like a rug is being pulled out from underneath everyone involved with the program. “Because it’s not my choice to leave. … That’s what feels the worst.”

Gralnick said the NMH campus was an ideal location for summer programming because of its dormitories, classrooms and various facilities. She said GCC received federal funding and disseminated it to the Upward Bound program, but services were provided from Stoneleigh-Burnham School’s campus starting with the 2021 transition, mainly because GCC has no dorms.

Gralnick, who has been with the program since 2007, and Roman said they are unsure what their future holds, but they hope to continue working in social justice.

A life-changing program

One alumnus who expressed his disappointment is Joshua Garcia, who has been Holyoke’s mayor since November 2021. He said he had planned to join the military after high school but his mother encouraged him to join Upward Bound, and his involvement changed his trajectory to Westfield State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 2008 and a master’s degree in 2012. He then landed a career with the Holyoke Housing Authority, “and the rest is history.”

Garcia explained he joined Upward Bound heading into his sophomore year of high school, took a summer off to work a job and bring money into his household the summer before junior year, and returned to the program going into senior year. The program covers students’ college application fees and helps with federal student aid paperwork.

“The focus of this program is to help inner-city youth … who don’t have the tools or guidance they need to be college-ready,” he said. “The thing you’ve got to understand is when you grow up in a low-income neighborhood, you’re not necessarily surrounded by the greatest influence.”

Garcia, 36, said Upward Bound likely set him on the path to become the first Latino mayor in his city’s history. His predecessor, Alex Morse, who now works as town manager of Provincetown, was also an Upward Bound student.

Shelburne resident Michael Tombs was an Upward Bound student for four years before serving as a tutor for two. He said he was distraught to hear the news.

“It’s really sad,” he said.

Tombs, who grew up in Millers Falls, said his middle school French teacher recommended the program to him. Tombs said his life likely would have turned out much differently had he not enrolled. He had expected to join the military out of Turners Falls High School, but his involvement in Upward Bound inspired him to attend to Beloit College in southern Wisconsin. The 34-year-old now works for EXPLORE Inc., which organizes programs and safaris in Africa.

“I don’t think I would have this job without (Upward Bound),” Tombs said.

]]>