WATERFORD — A before- and after-school child care program at Waterford Elementary School is at risk of folding July 1 if an additional $10,000 is not raised, Director Jennifer Rondeau said.

“We’re hoping to get some donations and grants,” she said.

The Waterford Recreational Enrichment Club, or WREC, is a 501(c)3 state-licensed day care available for Waterford and Harrison children ages 4 through 12.

The club, which provides programming for before- and after-school and early-release days and vacations, is the victim of new state licensing and liability policies that go into effect June 30.

During the school year, the program is open from 6:30 to 8:45 a.m. and 3 to 5:30 p.m. During school vacations, early-release days and the summer, WREC is open from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The children attend Waterford Library summer events, help clean up the Transfer Station, the Village Common and beaches, and raise a garden to benefit the local food pantry, including giving more than 400 pounds of fresh vegetables to the Sweden food pantry.

In order to sustain the program, the cost for a full-time summer participant would be $118 a week instead of $100 a week.

“If WREC fails, over 40 parents will have to find other services in the area. This is going to flood the day care systems already in place,” said Terri Johnson, an advocate/grant facilitator for WREC.

Rondeau said that the new state rules mean the Oxford Hills School District can no longer provide payroll services and liability insurance. The program has two part-time employees during the school year and hires an additional two full-time employees in the summer.

The school district pays club staff out of SAD 17 payroll and gets reimbursed through club fees charged to parents.

SAD 17 Business Manager Cathy Coffey said the district had already begun the transition because of new Affordable Care Act requirements, which in part require any business with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance to its employees.

Because the WREC employees are not district employees but could be construed as such under IRS definitions, the district has had to withdraw its payroll and insurance assistance or agree to put them on the rolls as employees. If it failed to do that, the district could face penalties ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 per employee for noncompliance.

“We knew the process had to begin,” Coffey said. Issues such as what happened if a club employee was hurt on the job was always a problem, she said.

Most of the school enrichment’s programs are under 21st Century grants that are run by the district. But Waterford’s program is sustained by fees and has its own board of directors.

Providing its own payroll service and insurance needs will cost an additional $10,000, WREC officials say. The Waterford Congregational Church has donated $250 to WREC, Rondeau said.

WREC officials are gathering information so program officials can make a proper analysis before a final decision can be made.

Program officials are trying to find out how many children would use the services in the future and have asked parents to notify them of their own needs and others they might know of by calling Rondeau at 207-583-2559.

Anyone who would like to donate money can write a check to WREC and mail it to Waterford WREC, 148 Valley Road, Waterford, ME 04088.

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