Geneva may get latchkey program

Before- and after-school care at Geneva public schools inched forward toward reality Tuesday night, as the Geneva school board heard the Geneva Park District's proposal to supply it.

"We have been in favor of starting this program for a long time -- between the school district and the park district -- for a long time, based on input from our residents," said Dawn George, assistant superintendent for student services.

A survey sent home with all the elementary children last year netted 450 respondents. Of those, 95 percent felt there was a need for such a program, and almost 60 percent said they were "very likely" to sign up.

A committee of school and park district workers are designing a program that would take care of elementary school students at the schools. Hours haven't been set, especially for the morning program, but they envision the afternoon program lasting from about 2:30 to 6 p.m.

The park district would take care of running the program; the school district would supply the facilities, including custodial service, utilities and transportation.

School board members Tuesday were concerned about costs to taxpayers. Several also worried about space, noting that storage space for equipment and paperwork is in short supply at some schools and that other community groups often use school property after school, such as Girl and Boy Scout troops, and Market Day school fundraisers.

Sheavoun Lambillotte, superintendent of leisure services for the park district, and George said that setting scheduling priorities is something yet to be worked on.

Three of Geneva's elementary schools have two gyms; the care program would use one. But at Western Avenue and Heartland, there is only one gym. So the joint committee came up with an alternative plan in which students from those schools would be bused to or from those schools to another care site --Williamsburg Elementary for Western, Mill Creek for Heartland. Because they anticipate less enrollment in a morning program, it may only be offered at two as-yet-undetermined schools, one for the eastern half of the district and one for the western.

The program would be recreational in nature; there would be time for play, and a little quiet time for studying or reading. "We want the kids to feel like they are having a good time," Lambillotte said.

If kids wanted to do their homework they could, but staff would not be "teaching" them. On school holidays, the kids would take field trips, and there might be a continuing care program for summer vacation.

Lambillotte told the school trustees the joint committee's goal is to have a program that is paid for by participants' fees, not tax dollars. The survey asked parents if they would be likely to sign up if it cost $85 to $95 a week, but the committee has not come up with a budget to run the operation yet, nor set any fees. The Batavia Park District runs such a program; a child who attends after-school care five days a week pays $354 per month. A parent who attended Tuesday's board meeting, Hayley Lotspeich of Geneva, says that she pays $20 a day for about 45 minutes of care for her first-grader at a private care center.

Board members directed the committee to continue working on a budget for the plan.

The joint committee hopes to have a program start in the fall of 2008.