Many Oak Park parents experienced a stressful morning this past weekend as registration for the Park District of Oak Park’s fall programming opened, but the limited spots and IT crash highlighted the high demand for quality programs.
Registration for fall programs opened on Saturday, Aug. 3, but was immediately met with frustration from Oak Park parents as the Park District’s website crashed.
“Due to an unprecedented number of visitors to our website, pdop.org, some encountered issues while attempting to register,” Jan R. Arnold, executive director at the Park District, shared via an announcement on the park district’s website and social media page on Aug. 5.
“Oh my gosh, it is crashing,” said Constance Upton, an Oak Park parent of a 2-and-a-half-year-old. “It is crashing because all of us are trying to do this right now. The whole village of Oak Park is on this website right now.”
Upton set various alarms and was at her laptop before 8:30 a.m., when registration opened. But the crash sent her into a panic.
She wasn’t the only one, as many parents took to parent groups on social media to express their frustration and find more information on how they could register.
Upton said she saw a post from someone who left their home and physically registered at the district office and others who went through an online registration system, Amilia.
Through Amilia, Upton was able to register her daughter for gymnastics, one of the most coveted classes, along with swimming.
But the whole situation only heightened the anxiety she already had about registration, having missed out on classes in the past. Upton said she hadn’t heard of Amilia until that morning.
“Although registration was still accessible through Amilia, we understand the frustration caused by the error message on our main site,” Arnold said. “Our IT team swiftly addressed the problem, and the site was back online at 8:42 a.m.”
According to Ann Marie Buczek, communication and community engagement manager, the website was only down for 12 minutes.
Oak Park’s parents have joked that registration feels like “The Hunger Games,” where everyone is battling it out for the limited spots, said a local mom.
“I feel like I am exaggerating a little bit, but I feel like the Park District has a choke hold on me in order to be able to get the classes I want for my daughter because they are awesome and everybody wants them,” said Delphine Risto, parent of a 3-year-old.
Risto was able to sign up for a swimming class.
The Park District knows programming is very popular and takes into consideration many factors when developing programming and schedules.
“Our programming is driven by participant feedback, program evaluations, and local trends to ensure that our offerings are truly community driven,” Buczek said.
Each year, the Park District offers over 8,000 programs and events, she added.
According to Buczek, this season they saw an additional 300 participants register for fall/winter programs in the first 20 minutes of registration compared to last year.
“While we have expanded class offerings and sizes to accommodate more participants, we must always prioritize safety, capacity and staffing,” Buczek said.
Instructor availability, expertise, and facility space is also taken into consideration.
Certain classes, such as toddler gymnastics, require more individualized attention and supervision, said Buczek. This results in fewer spots to ensure each child receives the necessary level of instruction.
Risto said she understands demand is high and credits the amazing programming as part of the reason so many parents opt to go the Park District route, but she would like to see some change, even if it is only a slight increase in the number of registration spots for a class.
“It is obviously resource-dependent. You only have so many lifeguards, you only have so many swimming instructors, you can’t service all the children in town, you just can’t,” Risto said. “But maybe getting it up to 20 spots instead of 10.”
This fall session was also impacted by outside factors, as the Park District lost access to the OPRF High School indoor pool due to Project 2 construction, reducing the number of swim classes offered. The Park District now only has access to the indoor pool at Fenwick High School.
Buczek said they try to expand offerings where and when possible.
According to Buczek, they have introduced a four-week mini gymnastics class to accommodate high demand and increased Santa Trolley sessions from a “few sessions” on one Saturday to 24 sessions over two days.
Additionally, the opening of Community Recreation Center has allowed them to introduce basketball and volleyball classes and leagues for youth and adults.
The Park District also tries to combine classes that are under-enrolled to help free up facility space and instructors to accommodate additional classes that are in high demand, Buczek said.
According to Buczek, the Park District has served more residents this past year than in 2023, seeing an increase of 16% in teens and 14% in adults.
While the Park District navigates the growth in popularity, residents are trying to plan for future classes.
Buczek said some skill-based classes give priority to Session 1 participants and allow for pre-registration so they can continue to progress to the next level in the series.
Risto said she had “no desire” to register her child for swimming fall Session 1, as they try to spend as much time outside soaking in warm weather before the winter months hit, but felt it was the easier route to go to secure a spot for Session 2.
Winter sessions are in very high demand, as families are looking for indoor activities to do with their children, Risto said. Registering for Session 2 then also qualifies Risto for pre-registration for winter classes.
“This system ensures that participants can build on the skills they’ve learned without interruption,” Buczek said. “Additionally, it helps us identify the need to add or adjust classes to better meet demand before open registration begins.”
Buczek said this practice does not limit who can register.
For parents like Risto and Upton, the headache of registering is worth it, as they see the quality in the programming. But there is still a desire to see some increase in availability.
“We do pay a lot in taxes, and you hope that what you pay into the system you get back out in terms of community programming,” Upton said.
“I am very grateful that we have this, it is a wonderful outlet for the children in town,” Risto said. “I just wish we had more.”
According to the Park District’s fall/winter program guide, registration for fall/winter 2024-25 opens on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 8:30 a.m.