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Park Participation Slides

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: January 18, 2009

TAMPA - Registration in Hillsborough County's popular after-school recreation program has dropped by nearly 2,000 kids since the county started charging fees for the service in December.

Parks department Director Mark Thornton said the drop-off was expected but still troubling. He's directed his staff to investigate what happened to the dropouts.

"Did they just go home?" Thornton asked. "If they went home, is there an adult in the house?"

Last year, when the program was free, 5,872 school-aged children were registered, with another 2,700 on a waiting list. This year, with a weekly fee, the number of registered students dropped to 3,979. Thornton said the waiting list is "gone" except at a few recreation centers.

The parks department adopted the fees last summer when county commissioners were looking for ways to reduce an $80 million budget deficit. Consultants who had studied parks department operations judged the after-school program as unsustainable and recommended it be outsourced.

But commissioners decided against killing the program or transferring it to a nonprofit agency, as Thornton had suggested. Swamped with calls and e-mail from worried parents, the commissioners reluctantly agreed to charge a fee of $20 a week. Poorer families get reduced rates or pay nothing depending on their finances.

During the budget talks, Commission Chairman Ken Hagan strongly supported saving the program. Hagan said he isn't worried about the drop-off.

"I think a lot of parents like me haven't signed up yet," Hagan said. "While we expected a reduction, I think we need to give it a little more time before we get an accurate picture of what the enrollment will be."

But the reduced number of participants worries parent Kevin Kenny, who has had three children enrolled at Northdale Recreation Center. Kenny said he can easily afford the charge, but he thinks the reduced number of enrollees proves parents with financial problems have opted out.

"You could tell if they started charging for this service that was always provided for free, they were going to fall by the wayside," Kenny said.

Kenny also questioned whether the money generated by the fees balances out the increased costs now that the program has to be licensed as an after-school care facility _ a result of charging for the program.

The fees generated $155,000 this year. But the county had to pay $35,000 to cover criminal background checks on 350 employees, as well as fees for inspections and licensing, Thornton said. And some recreation centers may have to be modified with fences or extra toilets to comply with child-care licensing laws.

"It's a high-quality program," Kenny said, "but now they're having to go to childcare programs and in the long term it's going to cost more."

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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