A nonprofit that teaches kids how to ride bicycles and use computers is walking away from its contracts with the city of St. Louis’ Parks and Recreation Department, saying the city has made its work untenable. BWorks criticized the department in a blog post Tuesday, writing that instructors frequently encountered locked rec centers, even after multiple conversations about the problem. It also cited poor communication and a cumbersome signup system.
BWorks is quitting three-year contracts for four different rec centers after one year, says executive director Patrick Van der Tuin. “It is the only time that we have ever gotten any funding from the city of St. Louis,” he says. “So for us to be starting that relationship being like, ‘Hey, this just isn’t working, we’re moving on,’ it’s not ideal.”
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City spokesman Rasmus Jorgensen said BWorks’ post “does not give an accurate description of events.” He also said the city didn’t learn about claims that the rec centers were closed until after BWorks submitted a letter canceling its contract earlier this week—and said its investigation found the center was open on a day it claimed otherwise. He also claimed BWorks didn’t show up a week later, leaving the city to turn away nine kids.
Van Der Tuin says that’s simply not true, and says BWorks is working to get all of the students in its rec center classes into other cohorts. “Why would we want this to fail? Why would we want this to not be successful? It doesn’t make any sense to us, because it’s just—we’re out money, we’re out time slots in our schedule. We’re having to juggle everything now because of this.”
The city also pushed back on claims that its registration process was difficult: “It requires filling out a simple online form one time to become a member, which can be done in minutes.”
Why It Matters: Van Der Tuin knows that going public makes it unlikely the nonprofit will be reimbursed for the year of services it provided. But, he says he feels obligated to speak out. “Having the buildings open on time, that’s not a complicated issue,” he says. “That is a staffing problem that needs to be resolved. Figuring out how to make it easy for families to be able to register for programs? Not a complicated problem. The hope is that, by going public, they will take the time to address these things and make things better for everybody.”
What’s Next: Going forward, Van Der Tuin hopes the city will offer funding for classes that aren’t tied to its rec centers. As BWorks wrote in its blog post, “We shared these concerns with elected officials, including the City committee, early last week, and have yet to receive any meaningful response to our expressed concerns or requests for help on next steps.
“BWorks is asking that City-based funding for recreation not be tied solely to the recreation centers, and that funding for programs be available for use in any of our amazing community parks instead. Removing this barrier would allow groups such as ours to act independently and deliver the programs we are good at, while removing the unnecessary roadblocks to our own residents.”
