The price you pay for your kids to participate in some of the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Summer Recreation Programs will be going up, and be prepared for some changes in how some of the programs operate. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring said at Monday night’s Board meeting, one of the changes affects the Playground Program. He says instead of two sites, there will be just one site: Washington Elementary School. The hours will be from 9:30-until 11:30-a.m., instead of from 1-3pm. Herring says the idea is to incorporate the YMCA lunch program into the Playground Program.

Herring says each day’s activities will be published as the time frame grows closer, but they will involve crafts and exercise. Each session would conclude with lunch at the YMCA. The students will be escorted from the Washington School to the YMCA, where their parents can pick them up after lunch. Herring recommended, and the Park and Rec Board Monday approved, charging parents a fee to enroll their kids in the Playground Program. He says the fee would amount to $1 per day of the 20-session program, which runs from May 29th to June 29th, or $20 altogether. The Board and Herring agreed that no student will be turned down for the program because of an inability to pay. Service clubs may be asked to help defray the costs.

Roger Herring says also, the swimming program would be held once a week, on Tuesday’s, at the Sunnyside swimming pool. No lunch will be served.    The Swim Team, which is held May 29th through July 15th, will practice daily at noon at the Sunnyside Pool, with practice during inclement weather, inside, at the Nishna Valley YMCA. Participants purchase their own team swimsuits, t-shirts and goggles. The price for the t-shirts, according to Herring, will be going up just a bit. He recommended, and the board approved, an increase of $5 in the fee to participate on the swim team, which will now cost $25.

Board Chair Stuart Dusenberry pointed out that’s still much lower than it was years ago, when the Parks Department was still paying to bus students to the various swim meets. Since the policy was changed, parents have been handling that responsibility. The increase in fee also helps to cover the cost of paying a Swim Team Coach, Assistant Coach and Manager, which had previously been a volunteer position. Herring said there were 60 participants in the program last year. He says if there are a similar number this year, it will be a “break even” proposition for the Parks and Rec Department cost-wise.

The adult softball fee is also expected to be “restructured,” but the details have not yet been worked out.