POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Recreation Department’s summer program for kids is scheduled for July 8 to Aug. 15.

But they will operate under a new set of rules prescribed by health authorities since the program has been classified as a day camp, and it will cost more.

Officially it will be a Day Camp with Trip Swimming, and will “need to employ twice as many individuals” to comply with the more stringent requirements, according to joint Town and Village Recreation Director Trey Smutz.

For that reason they will have to ask “that each family pay a registration fee of $30 for the first child, with each additional child costing $15,” Smutz wrote in a statement explaining the effects of the new designation. That would cost a family of four in the program $75. Calculated over the course of the summer program, that works out to $1 a day for the first child in a family and 50¢ a day for each other child, Smutz said.

“Recreation scholarships will be provided for those who are unable to afford the total costs,” Smutz said. People may inquire by contacting him at 315-265-4030 or tsmutz@vi.potsdam.ny.us.

He is also encouraging local businesses and other community members to sponsor a child or multiple children for this summer’s program.

“These sponsorships will allow more kids to take advantage of our program and help pay for local field trips during the six weeks as well,” he said in his statement.

The classification as a day camp will “mean an extreme amount of extra policies and procedures, including a 53-page safety plan,” Smutz said.

These will include being able to assure authorities there are adequate sanitary and safety measures in place. For instance, while the waterfront personnel such as lifeguards and supervisors at the beaches at Sandstoner Park and Postwood Park are trained and certified, the department will have to officially show authorities things like that in a more formal way. Accident and injury reporting will be more formal.

This summer, “campers will have the option of enjoying swim lessons in the morning at Postwood or choosing to participate in the athletic and playground activities at the arena in the morning,” Smutz said. An afternoon bus will take kids from the arena to Postwood for afternoon swimming and return by 3 p.m.

The full bus schedule and schedules of weekly sports-themed activities and field trips will be forthcoming in a few days, he said.