Post by patches31709 on Mar 16, 2020 19:42:22 GMT -5
We sent DD today (she's 4.5). I'm still home on leave with DD2 (4 months), so I felt a little guilty, especially when I found out there were only 3 kids in her class. But between the baby and DH working from home, I thought it would be difficult to keep her here and entertained. We'll see how things go during the week.
Ours is an in-home provider of mostly teachers’ kids, so they are now the only ones there. She really wants to keep busy and have the kids and my kids are at minimal risk while getting way more attention than they would at home, so we are sending them for now.
Post by starryfish on Mar 16, 2020 20:06:33 GMT -5
My daycare is still open and I sent her today. I will probably until it’s closed. My DH is out of town for training and it would be really hard to try to work from home with her (she’s 3).
Besides daycare we won’t be exposed to anyone. I’m WFH and we have no family in the area.
Mine is still open as of right now (it's an in-home group daycare of less than 12). I sent DS today so that I could get the house in order and get all the work done that I possibly could (I WFH full time for an online school), anticipating a possible shut down soon. I struggle with the decision but it is impossible to work with him around, and it's truly bad for my mental health to have him here while I'm trying to work, honestly. I can already feel my depression and anxiety kicking back into gear with all of these unknowns.
Is that the National rule as of now? I know they were debating that on one of the presidential talks today( I think that was today).
Not that I know of. It came from the Maryland State Department of Education according to our provider.
Ok. I haven’t heard anything here yet in N.C. I’m keeping my toddler home for the time being because I’m on maternity leave. I work in healthcare and go back mid April and I’m horrified at all of this. Especially bringing my newborn to daycare.
Post by simpsongal on Mar 17, 2020 20:30:19 GMT -5
Ours is open. We haven’t sent dd (3) since last Thursday. Dh and I decided today not to send her back. Big factor was our hope to see dh’s parents next week (assuming we’re all healthy and social distancing).
It was a tough call. Both of us Trying to work with her here is very hard. Her 6 yr old bro helps at times, other times they just fight.
Ours is currently still open and both kids have gone since Monday. I'm on the board of our preschool and they're doing everything they can to try and stay open until they can't, mostly as a way to keep their staff employed. That said, they extended their vacation policy that allows people to take full weeks off and get a discount, so lots of people have pulled their kids this week.
I keep going back and forth with guilt on whether I should be keeping mine home since I'm working from home. But selfishly for my own sanity and productivity, I'm thinking we'll send them until we're told we can't. That said, I already told the director that if they were having staffing concerns that I would happily keep them home if it meant that another parent who NEEDS to go into a job can bring their kids.
Ours is currently still open and both kids have gone since Monday. I'm on the board of our preschool and they're doing everything they can to try and stay open until they can't, mostly as a way to keep their staff employed.
But wouldn't they keep charging and keep their staff on payroll with a closure? That's what's happening at my center.
I don't mean to sound judgey, but I'm honestly really surprised people are still sending their kids to daycare. WFH with kids blows, but this isn't a fire drill guys.
We kept her home today. Daycare is still open, but will likely be closed by Friday. There were less than 50% of kids there yesterday and it’s dwindling by the day. They started a drop off where parents can’t go in the classroom today and while they clean everything and it smells like bleach, we both realized that if anything happened to her and we didn’t keep her home we couldn’t live with that.
Post by starryfish on Mar 18, 2020 10:44:37 GMT -5
i am pulling my daughter starting friday.
IS everyone still paying full price for daycare if they arent there? Or is yours offering the 1/2 price option? Mine hasnt said anything yet. During our last major hurricane they offered the 1/2 price option to keep your kid at home while they were limited open.
starryfish, we are paying full price. The teachers still need to be paid. Unless you (general you) are yourself losing income from this situation I implore you to do the same. Daycare workers make very little and financially vulnerable as it is.
IS everyone still paying full price for daycare if they arent there? Or is yours offering the 1/2 price option? Mine hasnt said anything yet. During our last major hurricane they offered the 1/2 price option to keep your kid at home while they were limited open.
We pulled our kids starting today, although daycare is still open for now.
We're not only paying full price, but our daycare has kind of gotten out in front of the "we expect you to keep paying" message. Our last update was Monday, and it said (bolding mine):
--
Dear Parents,
Thank you for your outreach and kindness during this most challenging time.
I have been in touch with [assorted offices/authorities], to get the most up to date advisement. At this time, we will remain open until we get a directive that we have to close. The directive can of course come from several sources, federal, state or local government or of course if we were to have a confirmed case of COVID-19 (we do not have a confirmed case at this time). If we are closed, that decision could possibly be immediate. Having said that, families should have back up care plans in place, so please make your plan now.
Please know that we are cancelling our parent meet and greet and parent make and take for our St. Patrick’s Day celebration that was set for tomorrow. The children will continue to celebrate in their classroom, so feel free to drop off a treat if you’d like.
Thank you to those of you that have let us know that your child will be out – please continue to communicate your plans to us.
We are instituting mandatory hand sanitizing and hand washing upon entering the center. Please use the hand sanitizer outside of the child care center prior to entering; remember that children 2 and under cannot use hand sanitizer. Once entering your child’s classroom, wash your hands and your child’s/infant’s hands. No exceptions. The security guards and classroom teachers will be reminding folks to do so.
I have met with all of the teachers. Some will be taking a leave of absence during this time; I have let all of our staff know that I will respect each teacher’s decision and as soon as they are ready they can return to their position. The staff that remain have committed to social distancing, limiting their circle of exposure, and communicating their healthiness, remaining at home if they become ill. All staff has the safety of the children as their top priority.
We ask that all of our parents practice social distancing, limiting their circle of exposure, as well as keeping sick children home and if a family member is sick, having different family members take care of drop off and pick up until they feel better. Of course, let me know if anyone in your family or that you have had contact with tests positive for COVID-19.
We have asked the building leadership to enforce strict cleaning standards for the cleaning staff and our teachers have already begun thorough sanitation of classrooms and classroom materials.
Many families that are able to work from home and choosing to keep their child at home have asked if they can mail their tuition payment to us. The answer is yes, at – [address]
As you know, staff salaries are dependent on tuition dollars. We ask that parents continue timely tuition payments, so that we can continue to take care of our staff members. We are so thankful that many of you have expressed to us your commitment to do so, as many of you want teachers that have lovingly taken care of your children, to be taken care of too. You have expressed, that since you are getting your salary you want your child’s teachers to get their salary too. I can’t express how touched we all feel by those expressions; we are appreciative to have such a loving [daycare] family.
Please know that we are trying our best to be thoughtful and receptive to our community, family, and staff needs at this most challenging time. We thank you for your encouragement and mostly for your support. We will continue to update you as the effects of this evolving pandemic impacts our work.
Kind regards, Director
--
We are billed monthly, so we're all paid through 3/31 and won't even be billed again until the first week of April. Being so forward about it when nothing is due seemed kind of aggressive and offputting. I mean, it's not that I don't want teachers to be paid or that I entirely object to it all, given the circumstances. But I am 100% sure that the general sentiment of program parents is not as "oh please keep taking our money!" as she makes it out to be. Our daycare is highly diverse, and lots of parents are just as economically vulnerable as the teachers.
Meanwhile, I get email updates from a place we tried to get DD into for before/aftercare next year. They're doing:
All current [program] families will receive a 50% tuition credit for March placed on their accounts. SOI will not be collecting tuition until program resumes.
That message was followed by a bunch of links to online resources for keeping kids busy & engaged. I appreciated that (even if my kids are young for a lot of them). That came off a lot better.
All current [program] families will receive a 50% tuition credit for March placed on their accounts. SOI will not be collecting tuition until program resumes.
This is basically what my daycare is doing. I'm not clear on whether we're getting 50% of the month or 50% of the 2 weeks (so...1 week) for March, but it doesn't matter. They're still paying out teachers 100% and we won't owe another payment until we're back in session. Although...I'm sure that might change if this goes on too long. The credit for March will appear on our May bills.
um.... kids under 2 aren't supposed to use hand sanitizer? Really that's what I'm taking from your post, Susie. I did not know that...
Our daycare is still open and has indicated they will only close when they are instructed to do so. I doubt there will be any sort of cut on tuition since daycare is so competitive in the Seattle area. My intention is not to send DD beyond this week, but I haven't cleared that with my H yet. I asked my SIL if between her, her husband, H and me, we wanted to rotate who was in charge of the kids each day so we could all at least get a few days of work in a week. She just texted saying she has a sore throat so we might be holding off on that plan.
My H's work is very flexible and has given a lot of leave. My work has said "oh we're flexible but use PTO if you can't work." so, I'm not really sure how long that's going to be feasible.
I was happy that the email we got indicated that teachers would still be paid. We're paid through for March but I was worried since I'm not sure if they are hourly or whatever, that they wouldn't get paid during the closure. This was sent on Monday night and now it's seeming like a reopen on 3/30 might be too optimistic.
"We rely on tuition payments to maintain our facility and provide our staff compensation for the outstanding job and their commitment to the center and your children. Therefore we will not be offering credit for the next week and a half. It is our hope that all children will be able to return to the center on Monday, March 30th."
They've also been sending worksheets to practice letters and numbers and spelling her name, which is a nice sentiment, but will entertain her for maybe 5 seconds if I'm lucky lol.
starryfish, we are paying full price. The teachers still need to be paid. Unless you (general you) are yourself losing income from this situation I implore you to do the same. Daycare workers make very little and financially vulnerable as it is.
My husband is about to lose his job so yea it is a financial burden on us. I’m hoping they offer the half price option.
starryfish , we are paying full price. The teachers still need to be paid. Unless you (general you) are yourself losing income from this situation I implore you to do the same. Daycare workers make very little and financially vulnerable as it is.
My husband is about to lose his job so yea it is a financial burden on us. I’m hoping they offer the half price option.
Welcome to my world... I’m an admin at a school and the language has been so vague. NAEYC put out a statement that except for extreme cases to meet the needs of essential first responders, childcare/preschools should follow the lead of K-12 schools and shut down. Our mayor said they “are much smaller and should remain open.” County Health Director (at the same press conference) said childcare sites with more than 50 people should shut down (our school has 200 kids and 50+ staff). Yesterday licensing put out a document saying to stay open with less than 10 people per area. Today, now that we have a second “community spread” case, they are putting new restrictions in place and will likely officially close schools for 8 weeks, which is basically the rest of the school year. However, they continue to say we should be open and following the 10 or less guideline. I don’t agree, but I’m not senior enough to have the final say, and honestly, I’m relieved it’s not solely my call.
I believe because most are private businesses, government entities are reluctant to step in. Also, there is such a wide range that fall in to that category. Large sites like mine, school based sites, private in-homes, etc. What’s right for one site may not be right for all.
We’re closed as of Monday night. We’re scheduled to reopen on April 1. I’m assuming we’ll reopen in some capacity at that time, likely focused on care for children of essential personnel. This brings up a whole different topic- who makes that call? People are frustrated no matter what we do. As far as tuition, parents pay on the 1st of the month and we’ve offered to use this 2 week time as a tuition credit for the first 2 weeks we reopen. We also offered to convert the tuition amount to a donation (to keep our staff paid) with the proper documentation for tax purposes.
It’s very interesting to see how this plays out in various generational groups. My contemporaries (Gen X) appear to be taking this very seriously. I’ve talked to 2 friends in the last day who can say with certainty they came home on __ day and have no plans to leave any time soon. Our parents, on the other hand, have to basically be shamed in to staying home, and they’re all well over 60, as is the senior leadership of my center.
Post by bookqueen15 on Mar 18, 2020 18:06:03 GMT -5
We decided to not send my DS (he's two) anymore. I was going to completely pull him as he was already starting someplace different in August but our daycare said that while they are still staying open as of right now, if we decide to keep our kids home we will not be charged. So I just told them we won't be sending him for the next several weeks (as my DH is in one of the risk groups due to being immune suppressed) and we'll reassess in a few weeks. If it looks like he won't be able to go back still after that, then we'll just tell them we're taking him out entirely. I really appreciated how flexible they are being!