Lakeland school district to launch before, after-school pilot program

RATHDRUM - The Lakeland School District this fall will launch a before- and after-school pilot program at Garwood Elementary to assist families needing to bridge the gap between work and school schedules.

The district is also hopeful for a school-based mobile medical clinic program that could be implemented as soon as next spring.

Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells said if the before- and after-school program is successful at Garwood, similar efforts may be launched at other elementary schools in the district.

"We're hoping that it proves to be a great service for moms and dads in our community," Ranells said. "Every year we've had parents say, 'Why don't you do what Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls do (by providing before- and after school care)?'"

Tammy Cast, who runs her own private preschool, has been hired part-time to launch the program. She has spent time visiting with program directors in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene.

The program will be called Before and After School Enrichment (BASE). It will be open from 7-8:15 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. Cost is $3 per hour. There will be a one-time registration fee of $30 for individuals or $50 per family.

BASE will be a component of the school's kindergarten program.

Ranells said Garwood's available space and parental support to get the program launch are among the reasons the program is starting at Garwood.

Ranells said the intent is for the program to be self-sustaining.

"We just hope to cover our expenses this first year because we don't know how many students will participate," she said. "We know we have to at least break even."

Ranells said day cares in the area have been supportive of the concept.

"One of the challenges for local day-care providers is transportation after school, so this helps in that matter," she said.

Ranells said the district has been working with Dirne Community Health Center on the mobile medical clinic possibility that would offer free or discounted services to students in need. Dirne will apply for a health grant to launch a 39-foot clinic with two exam rooms.

"The idea is that this clinic could go from school to school," she said. "This has been done in other areas and it provides a great service to our area."

If a grant is received, the clinic could start 180 days afterward. It would either start next spring or fall 2013. The grant would pay for the clinic and staffing.

More than half of the students in the district are on the free or reduced lunch program and the percentage is near 70 percent at four schools.

Ranells said the clinic would not replace, but complement, the district's two school nurses who work out of the district's 11 schools. School nurses won't work in the clinic.

"Many times when our nurses see kids, they are referred to a physician," Ranells said. "How amazing would it be if there was a mobile clinic out in the parking lot?"