The School District will continue to cover the cost of Recreation Department programming in 80 of 105 schools that will be open from 6 until 7:30 p.m. and the city will pay $338,000 for 25 larger schools with multiple facilities that will open from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 5 and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays to accommodate additional programs Dec. 5 until March 23.
Dr. William Hite Jr., School District Superintendent, said changes to staff hours and hours of operation will result in $1.8 million in savings. Nutter announced a similar deal with the school district in February which cost the city $189,000. School gyms host a number of programs including basketball, soccer and indoor track for children ages 5 to 18 with requests from 109 different community groups.
"The goal should absolutely be how do we keep school buildings open all year long," said Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who added that some of the groups in her district have not been accomodated. "This will again be an issue at budget time."
The district and the city have both been in a financial crunch. After February, groups that were not registered with the city and wanted to use facilities after allotted hours were charged $57 to $72 an hour, said Fernando Gallard, school district spokesman. Some community groups have complained to local leaders like State Sen. Mike Stack about the costs. Sanchez said she would like to examine the fee structure to see if there's room for adjustment.
Contact Jan Ransom at ransomj@phillynews.com or 215-854-5218.
