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After-School Centers May Seek Pay For Play

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2008

Updated: 06/11/2008 12:11 am

TAMPA - It's the last day of school and a thunderstorm brews nearby as 11-year-old Jessica Sabogal sums up why she likes the Jackson Springs Recreation Center.

"It feels safe," said the soon-to-be sixth-grader, who participates in the center's free after-school program under the watchful eye of Hillsborough County employees.

But Jessica's parents may have to pay for that care this fall if Hillsborough County commissioners decide to levy a fee to help offset a shrinking county budget.

"Historically, we've voted against charging fees at all," said Commissioner Ken Hagan, who has led an effort to preserve the county's after-school program, which serves more than 5,000 children each school year. "But long-term, changes have to be made."

The county, facing $87 million in lost revenue from property tax changes and a slowing economy, is looking for ways to cut costs and bring in money. Charging a weekly fee for the after-school activities was one of three recommendations unveiled last week in a plan by County Administrator Pat Bean, who identified $4.2 million in reductions to the Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.

Restructuring the after-school program alone could save $1.4 million a year.

A fee proposal would have to go through the public hearing process before commissioners could vote on it in September. A public hearing on the proposed 2009 budget is set for 6 p.m. today at the County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Jessica's dad understands the county's need for a fee. Everything is more expensive these days, Mario Venitez said. He and his wife must work and would gladly pay more if it meant keeping the program alive for their only child.

"We look more at how to keep her safe," the Town 'N Country father said.

But he knows other parents at the flour mill where he works who are upset. They already pay $35 a month per child for bus transportation from school to the center. The bus is provided by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, which partners with the county to provide after-school care at Jackson Springs and Winston Park.

Commissioners have said they would not support cutting the program and, instead, hope to expand it.

"There's a waiting list on essentially every park," said Hagan, who grew up attending the county recreation center in Carrollwood, worked there as a summer coach while in college and eventually enrolled his son in the program.

After-school programs nationwide face uncertainty as a result of budget cuts and stagnation, according to the Afterschool Alliance in Washington.

In a 2004 Alliance survey of 110 Florida after-school providers, 84 percent were at or above capacity compared with 75 percent nationwide, said Jodi Grant, the alliance's executive director.

In Hillsborough, there were 2,694 children on the waiting list for the after-school program last year.

That means there are children who need the program who don't have access to it, Grant said. And that not only hurts the child, it hurts the community, she said.

"Most people think after-school care is about keeping kids out of trouble," Grant said. "But there's so much more going on there. This is where learning comes alive."

In Hillsborough County and elsewhere, after-school programs offer tutoring, computers, music and art classes, sports, games and other activities.

"They're learning skills that will help them academically and socially," Grant said.

The programs are critical to a community because not only do they keep children safe, but they also help working families, she said. Cut or reduce the programs and "the community will see it and feel it."

Hillsborough's after-school program serves 5,600 children during the school year, said John Brill, spokesman for the Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. The summer program, which costs $50 per child, has about 8,000 children.

The sites at Jackson Springs and Winston Park charge $80 for the summer program but offer a reduced rate for those in need, Brill said.

He said parents used to pay $15 per quarter for the after-school program. In March 2002, commissioners changed that to a free after-school program with a $50 "camp" fee for care on days when school is closed.

Other options to save money include serving fewer children and relying on local nonprofits such as the Boys & Girls Clubs to accommodate the demand, which Brill said commissioners don't want to do.

Neither does Bill Beekley, a senior recreation specialist at Jackson Springs who has worked for the county department since 1971. He worries that a private agency won't be able to offer everything the county does.

"We have a huge after-school fitness program that we would hate to lose," he said.

Bean also has recommended saving the county about $853,000 by cutting 175 temporary summer jobs typically filled by college students.

"If that occurs, the quality of the program will definitely be affected," Beekley said.

Maria Pirone, a senior recreation leader at Jackson Springs, thinks parents who use the center will be "happy and willing" to pay a fee for after-school care - especially when they compare it with the cost of day care. "There's a hiccup involved, though, when you're not used to paying a fee," Pirone said. "It can be a setback for some parents."

Like 26-year-old Jessica Rojas, a medical assistant and single mother of two boys, one of whom is enrolled at the Jackson Springs center.

"I can barely keep up with the payments now," Rojas said. "If they do it, they do it. Still, this place would be cheaper than most."

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at sackerman@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7144.

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