Registration is at an all-time low for a Foothills service club’s before and after school program in what the club’s CEO attributes to the uncertainty and instability surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of mid-August, the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills had just 15 children registered for its before and after school care program in Black Diamond, a drop from 45 last school year.
Chief executive officer Shirley Puttock said the club is experiencing an estimated 50 per cent drop in registration for its before and after school programs in Black Diamond, High River, Nanton and the Crowsnest Pass, which she attributes to more parents staying home and many having not yet decided if they’re sending their children to school in light of the pandemic.
“We sent an email to all of our parents and posted on Facebook, but we knew the numbers would be low going back,” she said. “As more people get confident in the school system and the world it should go back up. People, right now, have a lot of anxiety about sending their kids back to school.”
The Boys and Girls Club’s before and after school programs closed in conjunction with school closures in March.
Before the closure, Puttock said the Black Diamond program was providing before and after school care for 78 children in the upper level of the Oilfields Regional Arena. The program runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The club cancelled its summer youth program in Black Diamond due to a lack of interest.
“We didn’t have the numbers at all to run that,” she said. “We would have (run the program) had we had the numbers. We had maybe eight parents that were interested.”
Puttock said the club laid off most of its staff last spring and is now hiring them back, yet more staff is needed to adequately meet Alberta Health Services’ health and safety requirements.
“There’s going to be more cleaning, smaller numbers in rooms and more staff,” she said. “We’ll be training our staff before we open on how much cleaning has to be done, taking temperatures and doing assessments.”
The extra staff, combined with a decrease in youth, will mean lost income for the not-for-profit charity, Puttock said.
“We will have a loss of income, but the families need us and we really want to be there for the families that have to get back to work,” she said. “We’re hoping the numbers go up shortly so we’re not losing money for too long.”
Puttock said Black Diamond’s before and after school program can continue to run at full capacity due to its nearly 5,000 square foot space.
At this time, Puttock said there are no requirements for the youth or staff to wear masks, but they will be required to physical distance. This means sports and other activities requiring youth to be in close contact will be eliminated during the pandemic, Puttock said.
“The programming will change – it will be more disconnected,” she said. “It’s not that the kids will be isolated from each other, but they will be far apart. The indoor games that we will play will be different but it will still be fun and positive.”
While planning is in place for in-house activities, Puttock said the club is unsure what busing will look like for students requiring transportation to Turner Valley School.
“Do they have to wear masks? do they have to do temperature checks before they get on the bus? We’re still waiting for those guidelines from Alberta Child Care Licensing and Alberta Health,” she said. “Apparently it’s in discussion. I hope they have an answer for us this week so we can write a policy and get our guidelines in place.”
While Black Diamond’s numbers are down, Puttock said registration for Eden Valley’s after school program is comparable to last year’s numbers of around 70 children. The programs takes place in the arena and sees an average of 20 to 40 youth on a given day, she said.
“We’re trying to bring in elders to do cultural work with the kids,” she said. “We’ve employed some of the teens to assist with the programming. We want to give the youth part-time employment.”
The Boys and Girls Club initiated a child and youth summer camp program at the First Nations reserve in early August that saw approximately 40 youth a day cooking, swimming in the river and playing indoor and outdoor games.
Anyone interested in registering their child in the club’s before and after school programs can email Shirley Puttock at [email protected] or call 403-470-0521.
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