New city parks are nice for children, but after-school programs may be a more dire need for Lawrence youths, city commissioners said the last week of March when they began to tackle 2006 budget issues.

Commissioners learned at a study session March 30 that the city during the next two years will pay off the debt related to the Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center, the East Lawrence Recreation Center and the Clinton Lake Softball Complex. That’s expected to free up approximately $200,000 in funding for the 2006 budget and about $800,000 for the 2007 budget.

City Manager Mike Wildgen asked commissioners to consider using the money to fund a second round of parks improvements. But the prospect of using some of the money to fund after-school programs at nonprofit centers such as the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence quickly emerged as a leading contender with several commissioners.

“After-school programs are in dire need of a sustainable source of funding,” Commissioner Sue Hack said. “We have talked on this commission before about how those programs ultimately save us money. The benefits far outweigh the costs. Parks certainly provides youths a lot of benefits, but this would just be in a different vein.”

Commissioner Boog Highberger said he was interested in using as much as $250,000 of the parks and recreation money to fund after-school programs.

“I think there is a definite payoff in the long term,” Highberger said. “It is much more effective to spend the money on the programs now than to try and fix problems later.”

Janet Murphy, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, said that was what she had found. She said her organization, along with the school district and private providers, team up to provide after-school programs at 11 school sites in the city. The program serves approximately 2,000 students by providing activities ranging from arts training to leadership exercises for about three hours each day after school is dismissed.