The Riverside Recreation Department and Riverside School District 96 are teaming up next school year to provide after-school care for children in grades K-5, replacing the firm that currently provides the service in the district.
Parents interested in taking advantage of the after-school care will be able to start registering for it on May 30 through the Riverside Recreation Department. The program will begin at the start of the 2007-08 school year, and will be held at A.F. Ames School, 86 Southcote Road from 3 to 6 p.m. on days when classes are in session.
“We’re still putting the plan and budget in place,” said Riverside Recreation Director Laure Kosey, whose department will be responsible for running the program.
The new after-care program will use the multipurpose room and gymnasium at Ames School. Kids will be have the opportunity to do homework, have a snack, engage in learning-centered games and take time for play during the three-hour session.
“We wanted to build some cooperative relationship with the Riverside Recreation Department,” said Colleen Lieggi, Ames School principal and the district’s community liaison. “We’re keeping [the new program] local, with community members as teachers who are familiar with the schools and Riverside.”
The cost of the program will mirror the current fee structure, according to Lieggi. In addition to a one-time registration fee of between $60 and $120 (depending on the number of children enrolled per family), families will pay a monthly tuition payment of either $100 or $248 per child depending on how many days per week the service is needed.
The district presently offers both before- and after-school options for students. The district for the past four years has contracted with Champions, a program run by Portland, Ore.-based Knowledge Learning Corporation School Partnerships, to provide those services. Parents enroll in the programs through Champions, which also provides transportation to and from Central School in Riverside, where the program is held.
Before-school care is provided between 6:30 and 8 a.m., while after-school care is provided between 3 and 6:30 p.m. Lieggi said that the district has 26 children enrolled in the Champions program in District 96, with fewer than 10 taking advantage of the morning care offering.
Superintendent Jonathan Lamberson declined to specify reasons for looking to the Recreation Department to take over the after-care program, but said that while many parents were happy with the Champions program, others expressed some concerns.
“I think the [Recreation Department] will be able to be more responsive to the concerns of parents,” Lamberson said. I’m looking forward to them taking the lead role in this area.”
Kosey said that the original plan had been to provide both before- and after-care programs through the Riverside Recreation Department. The initial hope was to hold the before-school program at the Recreation Department offices at 10 Pine Ave.
However, said Kosey, the licensing process made it too difficult to provide the service at the Recreation Department. Ames School is already licensed to host such a program, she said. Kosey also said that the rules regarding licensing would have required the department to hire separate supervisors for both the morning and afternoon programs. The Recreation Department has begun its search for the after-care supervisor.
Lamberson said the room currently being used at Central School would not be available next year, because it was being converted for a different use. Meanwhile, Lieggi said that Ames was ruled out as a site for before-school care, because officials didn’t want to make the existing traffic problem worse.
“We’ll have 320 students at Ames next year,” Lieggi said. “I’m concerned about a bus there to complicate traffic even more.”
The toughest part of the puzzle has been the transportation angle, said Kosey. The Recreation Department will have to contract with a bus company to pick up children at Blythe Park, Central and Hollywood schools and take them to Ames School each afternoon. With gas prices in constant flux, bus companies have hesitated giving an estimate for August.
Kosey said that the program will be able to accommodate up to 36 children and that the program will pay for itself through fees passed on to families taking part in the program.
“If the program doesn’t pay for itself, the program can’t happen,” Kosey said.