Municipally run summer children’s day camps have seen their rates more than double this year.
The weekly rate for the Stay-N-Play camps that take place in numerous communities around Chatham-Kent have gone up to $135 from $61. KIDventure camps, which take place at Erickson Arena in Chatham, will see rates shift up to $205 per child per week, up from $127.
All camps are geared towards children aged four to 12.
Several municipal councillors have heard from the community over the price hike, prompting staff to respond.
“As you are aware, operational costs have steadily increased over the years while we have maintained the same fees, making it a challenge to offer our low child-to-staff-ratios for quality care,” a message to councillors earlier this month stated. “We remain committed to offering low child-to-staff ratios to ensure quality care and a safe and fun environment for all children in Chatham-Kent.”
Kelly Emery, director of children’s services for the municipality, said this is the first price increase for summer camps in more than five years. And it represents a rate that’s about 75 per cent of the provincial average for summer camp pricing offered by Ontario municipalities.
In London, for example, day camps similar to the Stay-N-Play option here are run at a per-child cost of $145.40 per week. For their Surprise Camps, similar to the KIDventure camps here, the cost is $176 for a week.
Municipal staff did request a rate increase last April – to $75 for Stay-N-Play and to $156 for KIDventure – but council opted against that. Instead, it chose to keep the prices unchanged and covering any deficit for the programs from corporate variance funds, and defer the rate hikes to the four-year budget process.
That process started in November, and the new increases were approved.
Emery, said the previous pricing for the municipality cost Chatham-Kent money, and earned some angry communication from other agencies that offer summer camps around the municipality.
“We got some pushback in the last couple of years from other community agencies and businesses. We were their biggest (camp) competition,” she said. “Plus, the camps cost us money at $61 per week.”
Early signs indicate the new pricing is spreading the camp interest to the other agencies. Emery said one group told municipal staff one of their camps is already full, and has a waiting list.
As for the new pricing, Emery said they stayed well below what the average weekly camp rates are in communities across the province.
On top of that, there are subsidies available for qualifying families, plus the A.L.L, (activities, lessons and leisure) for Kids Program, which helps cover the cost of recreational activities for children whose parents could otherwise not afford it.
Emery said registration for camps is on a first-come, first-served basis, but 10 per cent of spots are reserved for subsidy-assisted families.
Why are they bragging that it’s a bit cheaper than other municipalities when our household income is less than 75% of the provincial average? That’s great that other camps are profiting; that doesn’t help the parents that weren’t prepared for the hike. The subsidy takes effect after you’ve already paid; again, not helpful. This article also failed to mention the municipality proposed a much smaller increase when they polled the community for the new budget. What happened to that? They waitlisted 2000 kids last year. This year, no waitlist. That’s a lot families that just got screwed by Chatham-Kent.