Rec ‘n Crew programming The first two weeks of the scheduled summer programs have been cancelled and refunds were issued to the 20 students who paid for the classes. This comes after the town decided to resume their summer programming during a council meeting on June 28.
Aaron Bisson, culture and recreation manager, said they have been trying to get staff to run the five weeks of summer programs.
“We’ve done advertising through our social media and the Times,” Bisson said. “We haven’t had any uptake for this position. At this point, we’re less than a week away from the 10 programs and less than two weeks away from the 16 programs with nobody applying.”
Bisson added that there are no internal staff to fill these positions. There is now only one lifeguard, after the other submitted their resignation letter.
“The potential summer program staff require a vulnerable sector check from the OPP to secure employment,” the report states. “This is a requirement of employment and is a one-to-two-week process once a person successfully completes an interview.”
The summer programs require three post-secondary students to be able to operate with a capacity of 20 students in each week of the programs, according to Bisson’s report. To date, they have only received one resume from a high school student.
Bisson said the August 16 sessions are in jeopardy because they do not have post-secondary applications.
“If we cancel and refund the August 16 session that will leave us with the August 23 week as the only potential week we can offer summer programs if we get two post-secondary students to apply at some point this week,” Bisson said.
Coun. Mike Behan said it is unfortunate that the summer programs have not started on their scheduled dates.
“Aaron [Bisson] warned us earlier right off the hop that it’d be difficult to get staff at this late juncture. And that seems that’s how it’s played out,” Behan said. “I can’t see how the August 23 one’s going to go either. But you never know. We’ll leave it up for one more week and see what happens.”
However, Bisson said there are different programs for children outside of the summer programs. This includes family swimming lessons that started on July 19. The museum is offering programming at the Rainy Lake Square on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the month of August.
The Fort Frances Public Library is also offering virtual student programming and Minor Hockey is hosting league development camps.
