Arlington proposing to close county gymnastics program

[Anonymous]

Dear Members of the Arlington Parks and Recreation Community:

Tomorrow, Saturday, February 21, the County Manager is scheduled to release the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Proposed Operating Budget. Ahead of this release, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) wants to ensure competitive gymnastics families are made aware of important impacts to the County's gymnastics programs. The budget proposal addresses guidance given by the County Board, which directed the Manager to prepare a balanced budget that reflects County priorities while acknowledging the economic pressures experienced by taxpayers and homeowners. To balance the budget, the Manager was directed to propose service and program efficiencies as well as reductions that make this year's budget especially challenging.

As a result, one proposed reduction is the elimination of Arlington's competitive and recreational gymnastics programs with plans to repurpose Barcroft Sports & Fitness Center (BSFC) for other operational needs. If adopted, the BSFC facility would close for at least one year and the competitive Aerials and Tigers gymnastics programs would be discontinued, effective May 16, 2026, which is the last day of the season for each team.

This is a difficult decision that was not made lightly. While DPR has been able to minimize major reductions in the past, departments across the County are facing significant impacts this year, requiring them to make tough choices. Since the pandemic, DPR's competitive and recreational programs have seen a decline in participation. As a result, these programs have experienced on-going challenges with meeting cost recovery goals, recruiting and retaining staff, and serving a broad range of participants. Despite this difficult news, DPR acknowledges the meaningful impact these programs have had on the area's youth and athletes over the years. While this reduction means DPR would not be able to directly provide these services moving forward, Arlington is fortunate to be part of a region that offers many non-County alternatives.

We encourage you to learn more about the proposed budget and specific impacts at the County Board's work session with DPR on Thursday, March 5 at 1:00 p.m. While community members are permitted to watch and listen, there is no opportunity for the public to participate in this work session.

The County Board will host two opportunities for public comments on budget issues:
Tuesday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. - Public Budget Hearing
Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m. - Public Tax Rate and Fees Hearing

All hearings and work sessions will be held in the County Board Room at the Bozman Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Blvd, 3rd Floor and are also available to view online. Resources can be found on the County Board meetings and agendas webpage. Community members can also share their views online by emailing [e-mail].

Thank you for taking the time to read this update. Should you have any questions or need further information do not hesitate to contact me directly at [e-mail] or 703-228-1872.

Ben Harris

Department of Parks and Recreation
Arlington County Government
[e-mail]
703-228-4747
arlingtonva.us/DPR

This is shocking. If you've ever tried to sign a kid up for gymnastics you'd know that it's nearly impossible to get a spot in any program nearby to Arlington. Every gymnastics class is terribly over subscribed with a long waitlist. It's just wrong to say that there are non-county options. That's just not true. Demand far exceeds supply for local gymnastics programs.

[Anonymous]

For the demand it has, it’s surprising to hear they don’t have cost recovery. If you want to keep it, come up with other cuts to the budget that equal its cost. Don’t be one of those annoying people that complains about budget cuts without offering alternative cuts.

[Anonymous]

It’s the insurance costs people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the demand it has, it’s surprising to hear they don’t have cost recovery. If you want to keep it, come up with other cuts to the budget that equal its cost. Don’t be one of those annoying people that complains about budget cuts without offering alternative cuts.

If there isnt cost recovery, it's because the county isn't staffing the program. There's tons and tons of demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the demand it has, it’s surprising to hear they don’t have cost recovery. If you want to keep it, come up with other cuts to the budget that equal its cost. Don’t be one of those annoying people that complains about budget cuts without offering alternative cuts.

If there isnt cost recovery, it's because the county isn't staffing the program. There's tons and tons of demand.

Well, the notice said they have a hard time remaining staffed. I doubt that changes even if you find a way to raise the pay.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like they need to charge a LOT more if there is so much demand and then use the increased fees to pay staff more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the demand it has, it’s surprising to hear they don’t have cost recovery. If you want to keep it, come up with other cuts to the budget that equal its cost. Don’t be one of those annoying people that complains about budget cuts without offering alternative cuts.

If there isnt cost recovery, it's because the county isn't staffing the program. There's tons and tons of demand.

If there isn't cost recovery, it's because people aren't paying enough to cover the costs and whatever they'd actually have to charge you, you'd be shocked.

Come up with something else for them to cut. Not going to be as easy as you think unless you start digging into County Board untouchables like public safety, affordable housing, helping the most vulnerable, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the demand it has, it’s surprising to hear they don’t have cost recovery. If you want to keep it, come up with other cuts to the budget that equal its cost. Don’t be one of those annoying people that complains about budget cuts without offering alternative cuts.

If there isnt cost recovery, it's because the county isn't staffing the program. There's tons and tons of demand.

If there isn't cost recovery, it's because people aren't paying enough to cover the costs and whatever they'd actually have to charge you, you'd be shocked.

Come up with something else for them to cut. Not going to be as easy as you think unless you start digging into County Board untouchables like public safety, affordable housing, helping the most vulnerable, etc.

Or there's no cost recovery because it's being run like a government program where there's no urgency to fill vacant staff spots, run the maximum number of classes to fully use the facility, or determine an appropriate market rate for classes.

[Anonymous]

Parents will happily pay more, its a good program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents will happily pay more, its a good program.

+1

[Anonymous]

Such a ridiculous cut. We don’t have a dog in this fight; my kids stopped doing gymnastics in preschool. However, the demand is there. Arlington P&R has gotten so adverse to charging for anything and always covering costs for any family that can’t come up with it themselves that they are bankrupting their programs. They now let people who need fee assistance to register first for summer camp, so they will literally fill the most popular, in-demand camps with kids that bring in no money before people who can pay the fees can even register. I’m all for helping all kids get access to these programs, but if it means they have to cut the programs entirely, where is the good in that?

[Anonymous]

This is equity...if they can't fund it for the poor no one can have it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the demand it has, it’s surprising to hear they don’t have cost recovery. If you want to keep it, come up with other cuts to the budget that equal its cost. Don’t be one of those annoying people that complains about budget cuts without offering alternative cuts.

If there isnt cost recovery, it's because the county isn't staffing the program. There's tons and tons of demand.

Well, the notice said they have a hard time remaining staffed. I doubt that changes even if you find a way to raise the pay.

I don't know what the current situation is, but when I coached there pre-Covid, nearly all the gymnastics staff was classified as "seasonal part-tine." That meant even if you worked full time hours, you had zero benefits, were paid hourly, when there were breaks you were generally just SOL. Got sick? Too bad, so sad, no sick leave for you.

People coached because they loved it. But it's hard to stay when you have no benefits, there are multiple weeks at a time where there simply are no hours to work (especially so for the non-team coaches), and there's little to no opportunity to advance. People find stable jobs elsewhere. They work limited hours because they have a full-time job with benefits, and when juggling that plus part time coaching plus other life responsibilities becomes to much, the drop coaching.

This isn't exclusive to Arlington County, it endemic to gymnastics in general. But if the county was serious about retaining staff, they could have long ago done away with classifying nearly every gymnastics employee as "season all part time hourly"

[Anonymous]

This is such a terrible thing to hear! We were just marveling at their excellent gymnasts at our last meet.
I’ve heard their coaching staff is a bit of a mess, but they produce great gymnasts. I hope they can find a way to continue, or everyone finds a place to go

[Anonymous]

It’s not really whether demand is there. It’s should the county be doing it at all. I don’t really need to pay tax dollars so Larlas can take heavily subsidized gymnastics in prime County space that could be used to serve residents more broadly. Let alone subsidizing some kind of club gymnastics team. Who knew that was even a thing.

Private places will fill the gap eventually if the county stops doing it.