Universal Pre-k

[Decadense]

Good afternoon everyone..😊..I hope everyone is happy and healthy and had an amazing holiday.

I am just curious if universal pre-k is available in everyones area and if so how, if at all, is it affecting enrollment. Thank you everyone in advance for your responses...😊

[Annalee]

Good afternoon everyone..😊..I hope everyone is happy and healthy and had an amazing holiday.

I am just curious if universal pre-k is available in everyones area and if so how, if at all, is it affecting enrollment. Thank you everyone in advance for your responses...😊

We have income eligible pre-k first, then to anyone if the classes do not fill up.....but the hours don't work well for families. There is such a shortage of licensed facilities here. On the average, it hasn't affected my home child care much!

[Cat Herder]

It has been here since right after I graduated from high school (1992). I opened my daycare soon after, it did not affect my enrollment at all because of:

• the extreme number of closed days, holidays, summer, weather, boil water advisories, etc.
• it only goes until 12 then they have to pay for aftercare which is about the same as full-time.
• extreme teacher turnover, allowing temporary employment before background checks clear.
• mandatory attendance requirements
• mandatory home visits.
• mandatory parental participation.
• lottery enrollment after lower-income preference, even though all homeowners pay the same taxes to fund it (after lottery proceeds).
• unstable funding, mismanagement, widespread fraud and theft from subcontractors.

[Decadense]

They just started Universal Pre-K in my area in January of this year and it has really affected my enrollment

[Decadense]

Yeah, the Universal Pre-k that they opened up here is in my school district. They opened it in two different elementary schools and it's all day and it is free. Since, I have been losing my late 3 and 4 year olds to it and only receiving calls for infant and toddler spots which I am only allowed 2 under 2.

[Cat Herder]

Here, they are in commercial, big box, daycares, usually one of two 4-year-old rooms. They did put one in each elementary school, too, but those are filled with special needs (read behavioral, not developmental needs, multiple terminations from other programs, domestic high needs), specialty teachers' kids (STEM, Bi-lingual, Doctorate level, etc.) and ESOL families to make transitioning to school easier or retain valuable staff. 30 kids per program, 3 programs, is a really small percentage of the kids needing care, here.

[Decadense]

I think it must be me than. Maybe I am not offering enough. I was thinking that I should get a fulltime job outside the house and revisit the idea of reopening the daycare a few years down the road.

[Cat Herder]

I think it must be me than. Maybe I am not offering enough

I doubt it. It is probably because it is new. Wait a few months. It levels out. Some of the vacancies are because of all the extra funding that went into those with young children, those are ending this month and folks will have to go back to work.

[Decadense]

Thank you Cat Herder..you always give me a different perspective and hope.. I appreciate it soo much..😊

[Cat Herder]

2 under 2 sounds so difficult. We have a 2 under 1 rule that makes it a little easier. 6 max, though, is ridiculous for the amount of space, supplies and training we must have.

[Cat Herder]

I have three cousins that were able to stay home for the last two years by using those payments very wisely. They meal-prepped, gardened, canned and worked together to meet homeschooling needs so they could have those years at home. One started her new job this week and the others are talking about working opposite shifts so they can continue homeschooling (online public school, tax-funded, more resources than local schools offer, shipped directly to them) and swapping childcare until junior high.

A lot of families are going back to the basics. We may all need to swap things up a bit soon.

[Decadense]

Sometimes I feel that the state is working against us. Maybe it is me. Maybe I need a change for awhile. I was so excited about everything daycare when I re-opened 5 years ago, but as the years have gone by, and the treatment of the parents the constant changing and rearranging the state does of the regulations and sometimes, I hate to say this, the behavior of the children. I just am not so excited anymore..smh

I received my teacher assistant certification. I was thinking that maybe i should do that for a couple years and than revisit the daycare thing. Start over again. Everything new. New hand book, contract, program, name.. idk..I am feeling so lost about it all..

Sorry for ranting on and on

[Cat Herder]

The state wants the profits from daycare. Any business that makes a profit, the government finds a way to get its hands in the pot. That will never change, all the way back into recorded history Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, Rome, Egypt, etc, etc, etc

[Annalee]

Here, they have put teacher's aides rooms in cleaning closets so they can make room for pre-k and get the federal funding...in the beginning several years ago, many were all for it cause it was FREE but now it's hard to keep the classes full as just because it's free it also has to meet demand for parent's schedules.

[Decadense]

I feel as though I am at an impass. I am stuck. I do not know what to do. I have been successfully running a Family Daycare for 22 + years. It seems different now. Maybe, I am working myself up over nothing. I should just wait and see how this Universal pre-k pans out put my trust in your guys experience with it and see what happens

[Annalee]

The new will wear off from the FREE sound that parents hear! Or it did here anyway!

[Cat Herder]

Have your hours changed?

I know I struggled to stay full when I closed at 5 (or earlier) but I was not willing to go to 6 again. I refuse to be open for 12-hour days but could not fill slots with less than 10 hours per day available. I met everyone right in the middle with 730-530 and have had a massive waiting list ever since.

When I was open from 6-6 (same rate, program) I had so many behavioral, policy and payment issues it was ridiculous. I am not completely sure why, I am sure there are many answers. BUT, by opening later and losing two hours, I have actually gotten better clients.

[Decadense]

I have not changed my hours, I am still 6-6. I tried changing my hours back in September to 7-5, but that did not go over well

[Cat Herder]

7-5 did not work for me either. lol! 730-530 did, though. Magically everyone was here on time every day and not one family pulled.

[Annalee]

Agree with the hours open issue....we offer 6-4:30 and give 9.5 hrs per day not to exceed 4:30; when we implemented this change we thought we had lost all our children as ALL waited till 7 to arrive to get the 4:30 time for pick-up. But that was several years ago. Now, I have four that arrive by 6:30 but that crew leaves between 2:45 and 3:15; the rest leave by 4:15 usually....sometimes a straggler till 4:30??

[Decadense]

I think I will give that a try. Thank you all so much. I always appreciate all the great advice..😊