The Children?s Center will remain open until 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, if it can get at least 21 students to use the program, according to an Associated Students, Inc., budget amendment passed last Wednesday.

The evening program was not included in the original draft of the ASI budget proposal, in spite of an increase in the overall budget of the Center. Carol Ackerson, executive director of ASI, attributed this to the increasing cost of staffing for the program, due to rising minimum wage.

The amendment, devised by the Parental Advisory Council, would extend the program from its current hours of 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Fees for the program will be $12 per evening session for children of students and $13.25 for faculty and staff parents.

To keep costs down, the evening program will no longer take infants under “2.6 years of age.” The minimum age requirement of six months for the Center?s daytime hours will not change.

“I do feel it does provide quality care,” said Pat Worely, associate director and former director of the Center.

Staffing for the program is underwritten by child fees and will not affect the overall student fee allocation of the Children?s Center or ASI as a whole, according to Worely. To be able to pay for the program, the Center needs 75 percent enrollment, or 21 of the maximum capacity of 28, Worely said.

It currently serves about 40 children per week after 6 p.m., according to Teri Mahan, director of the Center. However, some of these children will not meet the age requirement for the new program, said Chris Miller, chair of the Parental Advisory Council. Publicity is imperative in order to attract enough users to keep the program by fall, Miller said.

If the program falls below the minimum user requirement midway through the year, it will not be shut down, Miller said.

The Children?s Center is looking for an Evening Program Coordinator for next year, which is a year-long post.

“Historically, it has been difficult to hire an evening coordinator,” Worely said. “If we don?t have the staff to run it, we?re going to be pretty hard pressed to run the service.” Donna Dexter, a parent who uses the program and is one of its vocal advocates, is cautiously optimistic.

“I feel pretty good that they at least came up with something,” Dexter said.

However, she expressed concern about the new location of the evening program in the expansion building classrooms on the Children?s Center grounds.

“It?s just not as secure,” Dexter said, citing the lack of a front office in the building to screen visitors.

The expansion building has see-through doors which can be locked, Mahan said.

Additional security measures will be developed over the summer, she added.

The move will help cut down on staffing costs, according to Miller.

The new location will also cut down on utility expenses, which will be part of the overall Children?s Center budget, Miller said.

“I think the use of facilities is innovative,” Miller said.

Dexter was also concerned for the parents whose children do not meet the new minimum age requirement. Infants and toddlers require more staff than older children, Miller said. The children?s activities that can be done in the smaller space of the expansion buildings are more appropriate for older children, she added.

The PAC has been working on the project all year, which is the result of research that included surveying parents who used the program, and data gathering, Miller said. The PAC was directed by ASI to come up with a model for the evening program that could pay for its staffing, Miller said.

“I would compliment ASI for its commitment to the Children?s Center,” Miller said.Miller is optimistic that the program will be able to meet its minimum user requirement of 21, but said that it is the students who will ultimately decide if there is a need for the program.

“Use it or lose it,” Miller said.