BURKEonBOARD

(Sept. 5, 2008) – In case you were wondering what the effects of the Farmington School District Community Education takeover of city recreation programs might mean, we have our first indication—higher fees and less community involvement.

Here’s a comparison of the fees charged last year for the various youth basketball programs offered by the Farmington City Parks & Recreation Department and the fees charged this year for the youth basketball programs offered by the school district’s Community Education Department:

Fees have gone up from 14% to 56% ! ! ! Who are the winners and who are the losers?

Well, City Administrator Peter Herlofsky got what he wants—fewer city programs that his staff has to run—but at what cost to the public? A very big cost it appears.

The school district gets what it wants—a program on which it can boost fees to make money—but at what cost to the public? A very big cost it appears.

And that’s not all.

When the city ran the program, it used volunteer coaches. When we think about doing things economically and creating community involvement, isn’t that what we want?

There’s no mindication the school district will use volunteers. They make no call for volunteer in their program guide as the city did when it ran the program.

And what about financial help for families with financial needs and special circumstances. Under the city basketball program, scholarships were available funded through the Farmington Rotary Youth Scholarship fund. There’s no indication such help is available from the school district in their catalog.

It looks like the only folks who got anything out of this are the school district and city administrator Peter Herlofsky.

And the rest of us? We just get the shaft.