Following a year of sometimes heated debate over evening childcare at Sacramento State, parents, administration and staff are pleased with the new 6-10 p.m. Children?s Center program though concern remains about low enrollment levels.

Tina Aguilar, Evening Coordinator for the Center, said 28 children are enrolled in at least one of the four nights of evening care, with attendance ranging from six to 19. She estimates that the average attendance for the Monday through Thursday sessions averages 12 children. The Center is not open on Friday evening.

According to a plan drawn up by Associated Students Inc. and the Parent Advisory Council, the evening program must enroll an average of 21 children per night to remain viable after this fiscal year.

Parents previously critical of ASI for what they perceived as a lack of support for evening services sound conciliatory now.

“I would say that services are good,” said Donna Dexter, a graduate student whose children, Jeremy, 5, and Rachel, 7, are in evening care three times per week.

“The rates are very reasonable and, from what I?ve seen, the teachers are very good,” she said.

Heather Sims, a senior nursing student, sends her 5-year-old son Maximillian to the evening program. “I?m happy with it overall,” she said of the Center?s evening program.The Children?s Center charges $12 per four hour evening “block” per child. The fee is the same whether a child is in evening care for 30 minutes or four hours. According to Aguilar, parents prepay for time.

A survey of 15 local child care businesses by The State Hornet found that none remain open after 6 p.m.

As reported by The State Hornet on Mar. 14, early drafts of ASI?s budget cut funding for keeping the Children?s Center open after 6 p.m. At that time, ASI and PAC, a group of students, faculty and staff with children who use the Center, were searching for what former ASI Executive Director Carol Ackerson called a “self-sufficient model” to keep the program alive.

The Children?s Center lost $124,975 in fiscal 1999-2000, contributing to ASI?s $350,000 budget deficit that year. During the 2000-2001 year, ASI tightened its belt and considered cutting the Center?s evening program for 2001-2002 to save a projected $40,000 in staff salaries and operational costs.

At the end of the legislative year, PAC and ASI settled on a “revenue neutral” program that expanded the Center?s hours while moving it to a smaller venue and trimming staff and food service. The changes, when combined with the new fee schedule, mean that the evening program pays for itself if it hits the average enrollment goal of 21 children per night.

Children?s Center Director Teri Mahan said that ASI is committed to the new arrangement.

“The goal is to keep evening services available to students. We?re optimistic,” Mahan said.

Aguilar said that last year?s controversy surrounding the evening program doesn?t worry her, and that she is confident that evening enrollment will grow as the year goes on. She closely followed the evening program debate last year, and when she graduated from Sac State with a degree in Child Development, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

“I thought, ?I could handle that,?” Aguilar said of running the new evening program. “I read about it in The Hornet, and I started talking to Teri (Mahan) to find out when I could apply.”

Still, some parents see storm clouds on the horizon.

“The low enrollment numbers concern me,” Dexter said. “Are they advertising? Are they pushing to get the word out that the Center has new hours?”

Dexter said that she asked PAC who was responsible for advertising, but received no definitive answer.

Mahan acknowledged that the Center has not pushed it?s new program. The reason, she said, is that administrators are waiting for enrollment levels to stabilize.

With students changing their schedules during the first weeks of the semester, knowing exactly how many children will be in evening care is difficult.

“We didn?t put out ads because we wanted to see where things were at,” she said.

Mahan said that she plans advertise with signs on campus. Also, the Children?s Center website at www.csus.edu/asi/children/index.html was updated this week with the new hours and fee schedules.

Dexter wants to see the Children?s Center and ASI do more.

“They should advertise to the junior colleges to let transferring students know about services, and ASI should create a paid position on the board for non-traditional students,” Dexter said.

Dexter defines “non-traditional” as students who are older, have children or attend at night while working during the day to support a family.

She believes that more students fitting that description are attending Sac State each year, and that they should have a representative voice in student government.

“This campus is geared to younger people. Students who are older, students with kids, evening students who work during the day, re-entry students, those are the people who get left out of campus politics,” she said.