Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida prepare to reopen for after-school programs
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida are spending this week preparing their facilities so they can safely bring students in next week.
FOX 35 visited the Levy Hughes Boys and Girls clubhouse. Workers there will be keeping a close eye on the kids to make sure they’re safe.
“Currently, in our clubs, we’re only nine children to every one counselor,” Boys & Girls Clubs of Central FL Senior Service Director Tasha Robinson-Banks said. “Where typically we would be 15-20 kids.”
The club in Downtown Orlando is the largest Boys and Girls Club in Central Florida. It usually serves about 200 kids a year. This year, they can only allow in 108 kids.
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The club was open over the summer, which gave the staff a chance to perfect how they can run the club safely during the school year. Tasha Robinson-Banks explained that "they’ve experienced first-hand safety protocols we’ve experienced from the coming and entering the club to the exiting to the monitoring them for their safety."
The club has been closed for deep cleaning this week and will reopen on Monday for the first day of school. Everyone will be temperature checked coming in and out. Masks are required indoors. Kids will have to wash their hands hourly and the club will be cleaned daily.
Parents who don’t feel comfortable sending their kids back have the chance to have their children participate in online programs.
“We have this wonderful cyber Boys and Girls Clubhouse online,” Tasha Robinson-Banks said. “We’re doing our Zooming. So, kids who don’t have the opportunity to come can still log on. They can still see the same counselors. They can still engage in the same positive programming.”
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Most of the Boys and Girls Clubs in Central Florida open up on the first day of the school year. The Orange County clubs will open on Monday.
Most of the clubs are still accepting new members. Joining costs about $30.
Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the rest of the FOX 35 Classroom Survival Guide as schools prepare to reopen.