{"id":58619,"date":"2025-11-21T01:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/58619\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T01:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:39:15","slug":"plano-delays-closure-of-aerobats-gymnastics-program-to-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/58619\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano delays closure of Aerobats Gymnastics Program to 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPlano\u2019s Aerobats<\/a> Gymnastics Program, previously scheduled<\/a> to end in October, will now continue through May, according to city officials.<\/p>\n

What it means<\/p>\n

Plano officials had announced the program\u2019s October closure due to years of declining enrollment, difficulty recruiting qualified coaches and new cost recovery requirements that limit the Parks and Recreation Department\u2019s ability to subsidize underperforming programs.<\/p>\n

Susie Hergenrader, assistant director for recreation, said at a Nov. 10 meeting<\/a> the program has recorded a net loss of about $98,000 for 2024-25 despite marketing efforts and operational adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never wanted to discontinue the program,\u201d Hergenrader said. \u201cThe hope was to keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

What changed<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s new cost recovery policy<\/a>, which was approved<\/a> for parks and recreation programs by Plano City Council in February, has limited the department\u2019s \u201cability to subsidize underperforming programs in the Recreation Revolving Fund,\u201d according to a city statement.<\/p>\n

While some services have target cost recovery ranges of 41%-61% or 61%-90%, recreation program fees, including the Plano Aerobats, have a target cost recovery of 100%, according to city documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the last five years, the program has consolidated from two gyms to one and seen staff reductions, Hergenrader said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

After sunsetting the program May 31, 2026, city officials will begin considering alternate uses for the gym space at the Oak Point Recreation Center.<\/p>\n

Hergenrader said potential uses could include leasing the space to a private gym, converting it into a multiuse athletic space or replacing the professional gymnastic team with classes only.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope this additional time provides families and gymnasts the flexibility and advance notice needed to plan ahead,\u201d the program\u2019s website<\/a> states. \u201cWe know how meaningful this program has been to so many.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano\u2019s Aerobats Gymnastics Program, previously scheduled to end in October, will now continue through May, according to city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[8321,8320,160,8312,8313,8317,8322,8316,8314,162,161,8315,8323,8319,8324,8318],"class_list":["post-58619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-cox-playhouse-rental-rates","tag-high-point-tennis-court-fees","tag-plano","tag-plano-aerobats","tag-plano-aerobats-gymnastics","tag-plano-city-council-parks-decision","tag-plano-facility-rental-changes","tag-plano-fee-increase-2025","tag-plano-gymnastics-program","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-plano-parks-and-recreation-fees","tag-plano-parks-budget-update","tag-plano-pool-rental-fee-hike","tag-plano-recreation-inflation-impact","tag-plano-recreation-membership-cost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}