11/06/2006 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • Once the program changes had been made and the marketing materials were distributed we received some negative comments from residents via email and phone — many from the Clearwater Creek Park neighborhood where the program was changed from an afternoon program in 2005 to a morning program in 2006 (and a morning program that ended up only running two days per week due to lack of registration). The comments received from those in Clearwater Creek Park neighborhood included statements to the effect of: mornings are just not a good time as children have activities in the morning, parents have a harder time filling up the afternoon hours for their children, disappointed in the format changes, kids will be disappointed that they don't receive t- shirts, we may not decide to participate based on these changes, the program is such a great outlet for a summer afternoon when kids are looking for something to do, disappointed that there was not a discount for families with multiple children, two days is just not enough, afternoons were so popular — we don't understand the change to mornings. Although the comments received in regards to our decisions were strong, our decisions were based on the survey responses which indicated that the two day per week option was the most favorable and that a morning program would be supported. There were very few other negative comments received from parents other than those from the Clearwater Creek Park neighborhood. They either chose not to send their children if they didn't like the changes or they did not feel strongly enough about the changes that they needed to contact us with their opinions. Staff After the summer was over we surveyed the staff to get their opinions on the new program structure. We found that the majority of the staff liked the afternoon time frame. Those that did work the morning shift thought it was a bit too early. Another comment that was made about the morning program was that there were too few kids in the morning at some sites (particularly Highland Meadows) to really enjoy any group activities. Another popular comment from staff was that they liked the structure of the program in 2005 as they got to know the children better when they came more often and they also earned their respect a lot quicker and easier. In addition, the two day per week format resulted in some staff working only two days per week based on registration numbers and this ended up being not very popular with those staff as they would have preferred to have worked everyday for a shorter amount of time than two long days. Some positive remarks from the staff about the summer included: the program was a wonderful experience for me, I enjoyed working here, I loved the people, the summer went really good, the staff assignments were great, the kids were great, the staff were fabulous, the program is run very well, it was a really fun summer, and the kids and staff enjoyed coming to park. Overall the staff had a very favorable opinion of the program despite the changes to the format. Of the 14 that completed our survey all of them said they would reapply for a position with us next summer. Recommendations for 2007 Based on the comments we received from parents and staff, as well as the registration totals, there are several changes I would like to recommend for 2007. The first change would be to reinstate the general revenue funding. The second would be to change both the Highland Meadows Park site and the Clearwater