CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Parents in Kanawha County will now need to pre-register their children for the before and after school programs in the school system.
Kanawha County Schools announced students attending the On Deck Before School Program and the Third Base After School Program will need to have their families submit an enrollment form before participating in the programs.
Susan Nelson, coordinator of the Community Education Program with Kanawha County Schools, said the pre-registration requirement is due to over crowding.
“We have to have one adult for every 16 children, so we want to make sure that we have staffed our programs adequately. We don’t want to get into a situation, and we’ve have this come up, where we have more children than we anticipated and we didn’t have enough staff,” Nelson said.
The pre-registration requirement was also put in place to address safety issues, she said.
“We want to make sure we have that child’s emergency contact information, things that we may need about dietary needs, medications in advance,” Nelson said. “It allows us to plan, it allows us to make sure that we’ve created that safe environment where parents can feel confident that we know everything we need to know about their children.”
The requirement applies to both new and returning students. Families can submit a 2017-2018 enrollment form any time before or during the school year. A $10 registration deposit is required. Nelson said the money will be reimbursed to the family the first week the student attends the program.
If registrations exceed the maximum allowed at a location, the student will be placed on a waiting list.
The before and after school programs are at select sites. Four schools offer the On Deck Before School Program, while 20 schools offer the Third Base After School Program.
Nelson said the programs are meant to provide enrichment activities to students, feed them a snack, help them with homework and much more.
“It’s a safe place for parents that need child care. It’s less transition for their child because they’re just going straight from school right into the program without having to leave,” she said.
Information for the On Deck Before School Program is available here. Tot find out more about the Third Base After School Program, click here.
To enroll, visit Kanawha County Schools website or call (304)-766-0378.