PIEDMONT — The popular Schoolmates program providing before and after-school care for children in kindergarten through 12th grade will commence this year the same day that school starts — Aug. 10 — in the Piedmont Unified School District.
The Recreation Department program is changing to a license-exempt status but still must adhere to child care licensing guidelines, health and safety standards, background checks for staff, fingerprinting, staff-to-child ratios and other regulations. The change was discussed at the July 21 Piedmont Recreation Commission meeting.
The reason for the change, as explained by recreation supervisor Jackson Stearns, is to enable hiring of qualified individuals whose college backgrounds aren’t necessarily in early childhood education but may be in other fields. Many already have experience in youth recreation activities such as camps or programs.
“With a license-exempt program we can accommodate more families and not have to turn away families. We’ll have more flexibility with hiring. A lot of good, qualified people did not fit the criteria in the past,” Stearns said.
Schoolmates will operate less than 20 hours per week. Other license-exempt after-school programs exist in Albany, El Cerrito, Lafayette and other East Bay cities. Piedmont’s Schoolmates can expand program capacity at Piedmont’s Beach Elementary School from 44 to 70 students, adhering to Fire Marshal room capacity there. Havens Elementary’s capacity is licensed for 50 students and remains at that number. Wildwood Elementary can accommodate 66 students, up from its previous 40. Recreation Director Chelle Putzer said at the meeting that “Schoolmates will start at 30 kids per site and may or may not increase at this time” to test the waters.
“As a license-exempt program, Schoolmates would continue to adhere to all other licensing standards — staff-to-child ratios, proper training, record keeping and recruitment of qualified staff,” Stearns said.
In other business, Putzer reprised the July 4 events in town and the program successes during the pandemic.
“Piedmont Recreation had 381 kids in Camp Everything, 31 in Explorers camp. The CIT (Counselor-In-Training) program for middle schoolers provided job training for 26 kids,” Putzer said. “There was a small but wonderful flotilla of cars and a music parade that came through neighborhoods for the Fourth of July. People really enjoyed that.”
New recreation hire Eva Phalen highlighted her plans for many new programs with a focus on inclusion and to promote and empower girls in sports. For a complete listing of programs and classes in Piedmont, visit bayareane.ws/3zDameg online.
Lastly, with the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, Piedmont Community Hall is being booked. Many events are being planned for the city, including the Harvest Festival on Sept. 19, fall movies in the park, a Halloween treasure hunt, a Hanukkah celebration and a Christmas tree lighting. The senior group is now meeting in person, Phalen said.
Linda Davis is a longtime Piedmont correspondent. Contact her with news tips or comments at dlinda249@gmail.com.