Summer camps:
Programs in S.F. will be permitted to open next month — with modifications intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Summer camps and park programs in San Francisco will be permitted to open next month — with modifications intended to prevent the spread of COVID19, city officials announced Friday.
Both cityrun programs and private day camps for children may open June 15 for children between the ages of 6 and 17, under a new order issued by the city’s health department.
Camps will be open to all San Francisco youth, but slots will be given first to households with parents who have been working during the pandemic and those who have returned to work following recent health orders that relaxed restrictions on business operations.
To date, city park facilities have been available only for the children of essential workers who must leave their homes to perform their jobs. Those existing cityrun child care programs will be phased out on June 5. The 10day gap between the close of those programs and opening of the camps is necessary to ensure that staffers are
trained and facilities are properly sanitized.
The new health order allowing for summer camps to reopen also serves as a bellwether of the city’s progress in containing the spread of the coronavirus and as a small but significant milestone in what will likely be a long road back to a complete reopening.
The health order contains new rules for child care programs for children up to 5 years old. Starting June 1, all child care operations can resume for children in that age group, though they must follow state operating guidelines. Currently, only the children of workers who must leave home to work have been able to access child care.
Mayor London Breed said in a statement that the new rules were intended to provide a respite to parents and kids who have spent much of the past two months cooped up at home, with schools closed and little or no access to public recreational facilities.
“We have worked hard to create a safe environment for kids to be kids this summer,” Breed said. “Children need to be able to get outside and have fun while their parents know they are safe. While summer camps and programs will look different this year than they have in the past, it will provide relief for some parents and give their children the opportunity to play and spend time with other kids their age.”
In order to open, camp operators will have to adhere to the health department’s safety guidelines, including temperature screenings and enhanced cleaning measures. Camps will be allowed to operate through Aug. 17.
To minimize groups commingling, which raises the risk of transmitting the virus, each camp session must last at least three weeks with a maximum of 12 kids. The same groups of staff must attend to each distinct group of campers.
Recreation and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg acknowledged that the threeweek stretches would throw off the ordinary cadence of camp sessions, where children usually spend a single week at camp, then move on to another one.
“We want to make sure that these kids, above all else, have something to do this summer,” Ginsburg said during a virtual news conference about the camp announcement.
Rec and Park will oversee 25 camps in addition to the 40 or 50 that will be operated by private entities. As many as 100 other camping or youth recreation programs will also be offered by nonprofits, Ginsburg said.
The park department will operate three camp sessions this summer, from June 15 through July 2, July 6 through July 24, and July 27 through Aug. 14. Summer programs funded by the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families will be able to provide programming from June 15 through Aug. 17. Camp Mather in the Sierra, which is run by the city park department, will remain closed.
Marin County officials also announced Friday that child care and summer camps can reopen June 1, provided they follow public health guidelines and conditions similar to what San Francisco plans to impose.