At 5 p.m. Monday, the Farrell Recreation Commission was mulling a deficit in its summer recreation program, and the possibility of laying off playground workers or cutting the eight-week program down by a couple of weeks.

But the Farrell Area School Board agreed a few hours later to give the commission enough money to fully staff the program, and run it the full length.

The playgrounds at Rosetta Ragster/Southwest Gardens Park, the elementary school, Emerson Avenue and Wheatland will open Monday as planned.

"That, at least, gives us a little cushion," Chairman Riley Smoot said of the school money, but the grant still will be less than in past years.

A state investigation into apparent bookkeeping violations has left the commission unable to touch other funds already earmarked for it.

An audit showed the commission did not keep $20,053 in expense invoices in 2001, an apparent violation of the Community Development Block Grant program.

The city has funneled about $10,000 a year in CDBG funds for the commission. The $10,000 set aside for this year's recreation program and $301 left over from a previous year are frozen. The city has set aside another allocation but, when that money technically becomes available, it also will be frozen.

"For right now, we're not to allow any draw downs to that money," said City Manager LaVon Saternow.

The state has a copy of the audit and additional information, Mrs. Saternow said.

The commission will be sending letters to organizations that received money from the commission in the past three years to try to get a better handle on where the unaccounted for money went.

Smoot said the commission will use what records it has, including checkbook stubs and vouchers, to assemble the mailing list.

The organizations will be asked to detail how much money they received and what the money was used for, Smoot said.

The school district was looking to reduce the amount it pays to the commission -- $27,500 a year -- and had proposed cutting that in half for this year.

That left the commission with an $18,750 budget for the summer program: $13,750 from the school district and $5,000 from the city's general fund.

The high school athletic coaches who run the summer volleyball, physical fitness and basketball programs at the school for the commission have agreed to work for free for the summer, saving the commission $6,552.

But the program still would have cost more to run than the commission had. Chairman Riley Smoot estimated the cost of salaries for playground supervisors, maintenance personnel and the director, gasoline, administration, worker's compensation insurance and equipment would total $22,836.

The commission decided to open the playgrounds as planned and keep an eye on expenses in case they look like they're going to run higher than the budget, and make changes to the program later.

The commission also agreed to ask Wheatland if it can contribute to the program, and asked commission member Lester Robinson Jr., who also is a school board member, to make a pitch to the school board for help.

Robinson's appeal to the board later Monday evening noted the tie-ins the district has to the program in the hiring of coaches and former Farrell students who have gone to college, and the good it does for the children.

Robinson did not ask for the full $27,500, but suggested $20,000.

"You would give them an operating base," he said. "They wouldn't run in the red this year."

Although board President Michael Wright had called for a cut in commission funding, he backed off a bit when he learned the impact on the commission would be immediate.

"That's a horse of a different color as far as I'm concerned," Wright said, assuming the cut would be for next year.

Robinson, Wright and board members Larry Manilla, Ronald Weston, Joseph "Peppy" Costa and James Guerino, who also is on the commission, said they favored contributing $20,000 to the commission this year.

Jerome Flint and Edward Zappa were against the additional $6,000. Costa said he understood the bind the commission is in, but also didn't believe the district could afford it.

Guerino said the district should ask the city to contribute more money next year. Superintendent Richard R. Rubano Jr. said he has sent a letter to Mrs. Saternow offering to meet with city officials and discuss "alternative funding" for the commission.

Smoot said he's happy the salaries of the playground staff will be covered, which was his main concern.

"Everything else is gravy," he said.

The commission will buy more equipment, such as lawn mowers for playground maintenance, he said.

"When it's all said and done, we might have $300 or $400 left," he said.

As for the future, Smoot said he wouldn't be surprised if the city or school district stepped in and took over the program. Smoot added that he had not talked to anyone about such a drastic change in the program.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com