[August 25, 2011] Deer Creek School District works through before- and after-school care glitches Tweet Aug 25, 2011 (The Oklahoman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Deer Creek School District's before- and after-school care program, Antler Care, has had a few glitches this school year as the program transitions from private administration to district oversight. But administrators said things are starting to smooth out. "It's going well," said Diana Jones, the district's elementary curriculum director. "We're working through some issues, but parents are happy once their children are enrolled." Jones said she was a bit surprised by the number of parents who waited until the day before or the day school started to sign up their children. That has put several families on waiting lists as the district scrambles to hire more teachers for the programs at each of its four elementary schools. "We are almost at capacity at every site," Jones said. Also, the district is trying to merge school policy with state law and state Department of Human Services regulations. "We have people ready to teach, but we're waiting on background checks per DHS regulations," she said. "We were told the checks would take two to three days, but instead they're taking more like two weeks." Meshing the district's data system with the Antler Care tuition program has been another issue that's caused parents some grief. That's being ironed out, Jones said. "At the end of the day, we made sure kids had a place to go before we worried about whether they were paid or not," she said. On the plus side, Jones said she feels really good about the healthy breakfasts and snacks the children are getting. She said Antler Care is following the nutrition guidelines of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, offering snacks made with whole grains, string cheese, pretzels and fruit. Students in before-school care can eat breakfast, get some extra rest or play games, Jones said. In after-school care, teachers work with students to get their homework done. Students also are given snacks and have time for free play or to work in the computer lab. Fourth-grader Kearra Schrock, 10, said she's been coming to after-school care Rose Union Elementary School for several years. "We get to color. We get to sing and dance," she said. "We go in the gym. Sometimes they make us read. The teachers are really nice." Debbie Adams teaches advanced placement environmental science and pre-AP biology at Deer Creek High School. Her afternoons are a much different gear. Adams staffs the after-school program at Rose Union. On a recent weekday, she helped feed small children Goldfish crackers and juice and then got them settled at tables with arts and crafts supplies. She also supervised several children jumping rope. "Believe it or not, I use this time to decompress," she said. Jones said one of the things parents stressed to the district was they wanted their children's homework to be completed in after-school care. To help with this, the district has hired certified teachers -- many of them already district teachers who receive extra pay for working the longer hours, Jones said. In past years, before- and after-school care was run by Latchkey Child Services. In April, the school board voted to take over the program. School leaders decided they wanted more control over the program and to be able to hire their own staff. Jones said the district had no problems with Latchkey and has even received help and advice from the company as they make the transition. "It just ended up being the right decision to run our own program," Jones said. ___ (c)2011 The Oklahoman Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]