Evicted After-School Care Center Reopens

The Kids Club Program, which was evicted from its facilities on three elementary school campuses this year, has reopened in a commercial center on Mulholland Drive, and its owner said he will continue trying to return to a school.

The program has gone through a few changes since being asked to leave its leased trailers at Chaparral, Bay Laurel and Lupin Hill elementary schools for lack of a license to provide day care.

The biggest difference was the elimination of after-school care in favor of an enrichment program in which students take one-hour classes instead of staying as long as four hours at school for after-hours day care.

“That was our bread and butter,” owner Tony Roberts said. “We hope to get back to after-school care by October,” although not necessarily with the same school district.

When the program was run under the auspices of the city of Calabasas, it was not required to have a state-approved child-care license--which establishes a strict teacher-student ratio and enables program operators to give children snacks and keep them longer.

Roberts said when the program split with the city last year so it could expand, it started the license application process. “It just didn’t happen quick enough for the school district,” he said.

But Las Virgenes Unified School District officials said that when the program’s contract to lease the facilities expired in October, they gave Roberts seven months to show a license or move out.

When Roberts did not meet the deadline, the district gave him another three months, until Aug. 15, to comply, Donald Zimring, assistant superintendent of business services, said.

Roberts said the Kids Club program has begun the process of applying for a child-care license at its new location near Calabasas High School, and also is looking to contract for space in local parks.