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Bernalillo County officials are scrambling to revise before- and after-school programs that have had parents in an uproar for weeks.

A plan to reduce the number of children in the popular programs drew complaints, phone calls and angry letters from parents afraid the schools would no longer have room for their children.

After an impromptu meeting on July 31, the county says it will find a way to accommodate all the kids, though a plan has yet to be revealed.

Susan King was one of those concerned parents ----- so concerned that she and her 8-year-old daughter, Rose, arrived at 4:30 a.m. on July 30 to sign up for an after-school program at A. Montoya Elementary School in the East Mountains.

"Quite a few of us were really worried that our kids wouldn't get in," King said. "There's really not any child care in the (East) Mountains to speak of except Los Vecinos (Community Center)."

The county announced in a flier in July that it could no longer provide transportation between its community centers and public schools for programs before and after school because its vans were no longer considered safe.

Without transportation, the county said it had to move the programs to elementary schools, but would have to limit enrollment. It also could not transport students to other activities, such as movie theaters, the Rio Grande Zoo and other field trips.

Parents, who, like King, relied on the programs for child care, were up in arms.

King said she had heard rumors that other parents would camp out at the City-County Building in Downtown Albuquerque to register their children for the limited openings.

A. Montoya Elementary, for example, was slated to cut its after-school program from 75 kids to 50, and to eliminate the before-school program that once hosted a dozen students.

King was livid over the drastic change.

When she went to sign up on July 30, "They told us . . . they were not offering before-school programming," King said. "A lot of this sounds like very poor communication and planning to me."

Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Brasher, who represents the East Mountains area where King lives, said he was unaware of the program change until he read about it.

"I went back and looked and there was a press release that went out, but I didn't have any information that this stuff was going on," Brasher said. "And that concerns me."

The programs are important for working parents, he said.

By July 31, complaints prompted county managers to meet and discuss potential changes.

Suzanne Gutierrez, the county's Youth and Senior Services Section manager, said part of the problem was the flier went out prematurely. The staff didn't realize it would require so many changes, she said.

"I think we need to start fresh with this," Gutierrez said.

In the afternoon on July 31, Gutierrez met with officials from the county's youth and recreation programs and community services to discuss revising the school programs.

Preliminary changes involve adding before-school programs to most of the elementary schools.

But middle school students still won't be allowed to attend programs at the elementary schools, county officials say.

King thinks that leaves the middle school kids too many opportunities to be mischievous.

"Let's get real," King said. "Our kids are going to be the criminals in the West Side jail if the kids don't have a place to hang out."

Gutierrez recommended that parents call the Student, School and Community Service Hotline, 855-9040, about changes at their neighborhood schools and community centers.

"There are a lot of different scenarios," she said. "That's why we encourage people to call the after-school child care main number."