GREENFIELD — After being asked by the Mayor’s Office to reduce its budget request by 16.75%, or $51,863, for fiscal year 2027, Recreation Commission members are proposing a $290,945 budget that they say would save the Rec Room after-school program.
The $290,945 proposal represents a 5.7% decrease from the original, level-services budget request, which Commission Chair Donna DuSell said would maintain the department’s four full-time staff members and dozens of programs. The department is currently operating on a $284,848 budget in fiscal year 2026.
During a Recreation Commission meeting on Monday, DuSell said that by shifting $17,600 in operating expenses to the Recreation Revolving Fund and increasing fundraising efforts, she hopes the city can keep Youth Center Coordinator Will Hesslink on staff and continue operating the after-school program.
“When you lose positions, it’s very hard to get them back, and I really want to figure out a way that we can keep this position,” DuSell said.
Recreation Director Christy Moore said the after-school program at 20 Sanderson St., which provides a safe place for children to learn and play, regularly has a waiting list because it can only accommodate 30 children each day. Defunding Hesslink’s position, she added, would be detrimental to the program.
She said she understands it’s a challenging budget year and the mayor is trying to balance the needs of all departments, but the after-school program is an essential service for a lot of families, and the coordinator position makes it feasible.
“The role is not extra; it’s essential infrastructure that ensures safety, consistency and measurable youth outcomes,” Moore said. “The purpose of the Rec Room after-school program is to provide a safe and structured, engaging environment that supports the social, emotional and developmental well-being of youth during critical after-school hours from 2:10 to 5:30 [p.m.]
“The Youth Center coordinator is responsible for program planning and consistency, staff supervision and instruction, behavior management and conflict resolution, communication with families in the schools, and assists in the office,” she continued. “The impact on our working families is seen with safe child care, stability and routine for the kids. Removing this position weakens a key community support system for them.”
After reviewing different options, including reducing the coordinator position to part-time and removing the office assistance hours from the job description, the Recreation Commission unanimously agreed to request that the coordinator be kept fully funded as a full-time position. As a show of good faith, members said they will remove all non-staffing items from the operating budget, including computer licensing costs, and expenses for equipment and office supplies, and cover those costs using the revolving fund.
Moore noted that the after-school program, and other programs and events put on by the department, are not covered by the operating budget, but instead by user fees, donations, and fundraisers. The operating budget, meanwhile, covers the costs associated with full-time staff, office supplies and computer licensing.
“We work very hard to cover our operating expenses. We are not generating tons of extra revenue,” Moore said. “I feel like a broken record, but we get zero dollars from our operating budget. We have to ask our local businesses and organizations to help support us, like with the fireworks.”
As the program has increased in popularity, the expenses associated with it have increased as well, Moore noted. During the 2023-2024 school year, the after-school program cost $10,130 to run and brought in $8,200 in revenue. For the 2025-2026 school year, the program has cost $11,832 to run and is bringing in $11,104 in revenue.
DuSell mentioned the revolving funds can only be used to cover staff who work less than 19 hours per week, which is why the coordinator position needs to stay in the operating budget. She added that the position previously existed and was cut from the budget in 2009 before being reinstated a few years ago.
To help cover the increasing expenses associated with the after-school program, the Recreation Commission also voted unanimously to increase the program’s registration fees from $150 per season or $400 per school year to $250 per season or $700 per school year.
Alternate member Daniel Piasecki said that even increasing by the seasonal rate by $100, the program still costs families less than $100 a month.
“It feels reasonable,” Piasecki said. “I know times are really tight, but it sounds reasonable.”
Members of the commission said they hope that Mayor Ginny Desorgher will see the increased fees and the department agreeing to take on more expenses using the revolving account as a fair compromise, and will agree to include the coordinator position in her draft of the city’s FY27 budget.
“To me, it shows that we’re making an effort,” Piasecki said. “It’s a compromise, and to me it’s a good-faith effort. … This, in my opinion, gives us what we need to maintain a fully functioning department and yet still give some concession.”
During a City Council meeting earlier this month, Desorgher told city councilors that it was going to be a tough budget year due to increased health insurance costs, and to cover the expenses, she has been looking at what open positions don’t need to be filled and what expenses can be covered by revolving funds. Regarding the Rec Room, she said she hoped that reallocating funds and increasing fees would help pay for the after-school program.
“The plan is to fund the Rec Room from sources that include the after-school revolving fund,” Desorgher told city councilors. “The Recreation Commission is reviewing its fee structure and will make the necessary adjustments for FY27 to meet the needs of after-school care.”
Chief of Staff Erin Anhalt added that despite rumors circulating that the program is being cut immediately, discussions between the Mayor’s Office and the Recreation Department have involved looking for creative solutions to keep the program running.
“The discussion has consistently been, how are we going to move funding to be more creative to find a way to fund it,” Anhalt said, “in a way that has a smaller impact on the city’s budget.”
Moore plans to present the revised budget to the mayor before the Recreation Commission’s next meeting on April 9.
