After-school program will help working parents

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Wilmington Area School District will offer an extended day program for students in grades one through four at New Wilmington Elementary School beginning Aug. 29.
Hours for the program, which was approved by the school board, are 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Michael Hink, schools superintendent, was given permission by the board Monday to hire staff, including a coordinator and three workers, for the program.
"This is something new we thought would be a good thing to offer parents of young children," Hink said. "Many parents work, and this will enable their children to remain at school and be supervised in a secure environment."
George Leidigh, elementary principal, said surveys were distributed to parents in the spring and 31 percent of the parents who responded indicated they were interested in the program.
How it works: Leidigh said students from East Lawrence and Pulaski elementary schools will be bused to New Wilmington Elementary. The cost is $30 per child a week. He said the program will be self-supported and funds will not be taken from the district's general fund budget.
He estimates the cost to run the program to be about $23,570 for the year. But with 30 students attending the program 180 days a during the school year, he anticipates about $32,400 in revenue.