Published: May 01, 2008 12:28 pm         

Summer program cut back

By JIM AUSTIN
Cooperstown Crier

Youngsters will have an abbreviated summer program this year because of a loss of funding for the CROP program.

Since 2001, the village’s Red Bursey Playground program has partnered with the Cooperstown Central School’s CROP program to provide area young children with summertime activities.

This year, a lapse in funding for the CROP program means there will be no money for the school to provide its regular program. Instead, the village will put on a program of its own. A similar glitch in funding cut the program to half days in 2003.

Elementary Principal Teresa Gorman said Tuesday there is no funding for the program this year. ``It’s not that we don’t want to partner with the village, but it’s not a school endeavor anymore.’’ she said.

Gorman said the village’s program will still be able to make use of some of the school facilities for its program.

``We’ll help them in any way we can,’’ she said.

Members of the village finance committee met Tuesday afternoon to discuss how to handle this year’s summer program. Mayor Carol Waller is the only one who was in office the last time the village ran the Red Bursey Playground Program. For many years, the Red Bursey Playground Fund was self-supporting, but costs increased and donations diminished until the fund was almost exhausted. In May 2000, Mayor Wendell Tripp commented in a board meeting the fund was depleted and that the village would not be able to fund and administer the program the following year.

But an agreement was reached with the school, and since 2001, the two have partnered to put on the summer youth program. The village now budgets $9,000 annually for salaries and other expenses for the summer program, but without the school’s CROP funding, it will only cover a reduced program. According to Village Treasurer Mary Ann Henderson, the Town of Otsego gives the village $1,000 annually to help pay for the summer youth program.

Committee members discussed how to stimulate donations to the Red Bursey Playground Fund. In the past, there had been an informal suggestion that parents make a donation to help perpetuate the fund, but those donations have dropped off since the program was combined with CROP.

CROP Site Coordinator Kate Siracusa will run the program, which will be daily from 9 a.m. to noon during the month of July. There will be no transportation for participants this year. The program will be open to children who will be entering grades one through five this fall. Siracusa told the committee the only thing she wasn’t sure about is enrollment. ``If the village is going to be the sole funder, is it going to be village kids?’’ she asked.

Committee members said the program was open to all, but did ask her to keep track of where the children live. Siracusa said that without transportation, it may end up being primarily village children anyway.

Last year, 100 children participated in the program. This year, Siracusa and her three assistants expect to be able to handle somewhere between 60 to 80 children. She said a letter will be going out to parents next week with enrollment information. ``Maybe it will be the same next summer when the money is back,’’ Siracusa said.