Patterson Elementary School (PES) will no longer serve as an on-site location for the YMCA after-school program known as Patterson Y-Time, beginning with the 2025–2026 school year. School officials are calling it the “end of an era”.
Since 2016, Patterson has been the only school in Pierce County to host the YMCA program directly on campus. Other schools in the county transport their students to alternate locations for after-school care.
Until this coming school year, approximately 25-30 students participated in the YMCA program each year.
The decision follows an assessment of the program’s impact on school operations. Officials say safety concerns and the strain placed on school facilities also influenced the change in policy.
While the YMCA charged families for this service, Patterson Elementary says they received no compensation for the daily use of its facilities, utilities and custodial services during the program’s hours of operation (2:30–6 p.m., Monday– Friday).
After gathering input from parents, staff, and members of the PES School Council, it was determined that continuing to host the program on campus is no longer sustainable.
The Patterson Elementary School Council, composed of staff, parents and business representatives, reviewed the situation and unanimously approved the decision to discontinue on-site services.
School officials had originally planned to discontinue the on-site program last summer. However, based on assurances from YMCA Executive Director Rusty Hall, they were told a new off-site location was to have been secured by January 2025. With that understanding, the decision was made to extend the program for one additional year.
Hall later informed them the timeline to secure and prepare a new site may now take 18-24 months, significantly extending the original projection.
Hall was not available for comment before this edition went to press. A July 7 communication under the names of Jenna Griffin, School Age Program Director, and Dustin Hersey, Assistant School Age Program Director, characterizes the end of the program as “by choice of the Patterson Elementary School Council” and states “without their submission to the Peirce [sic] County Board of Education for renewal, we cannot operate onsite.”
Meanwhile, Patterson Elementary encourages families to contact the YMCA for information regarding transportation to alternate sites and updates on the development of the new location.
“We sincerely appreciate our families' understanding and continued support as we prioritize the safety and wellbeing of our students and the long-term care of our school facilities,” said Amanda Lankford, PES principal.
