Beyond the Bell pilot program
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Just received info that my SACC waitlisted child will be enrolled in the Beyond the Bell pilot program, with very limited information. Does anyone have any info about this program? |
Anonymous
| I got the same notification and plan to attend one of the upcoming info sessions. I'm curious, too, especially about the "license-expempt" part. https://publicinput.com/Customer/File/Full/f6e1cec7-acdb-4324-9ff4-3a9634e442de |
Anonymous
| Was anyone able to attend the info session this morning and have any additional info to share? |
Anonymous
Anonymous
| Sounds horrible - the staff to student ratio at SACC is already not enough. |
Anonymous
Yeah, is this some attempt to revamp all of SACC such that the ratios end up higher and they become more lax on regulations at all schools? I am not ok with that. Sorry to all those on the waiting list but we waited for years to get in and I get that it sucks to find an alternative. But I would not feel comfortable lowering the standards just so more kids could participate. The enrollment caps exist for a reason. |
Anonymous
|
From the FAQ:
When will our current SACC site transition to Beyond the Bell? Current SACC students at participating schools will transition to Beyond the Bell on October 1, 2025. Some waitlisted students will begin October 1; all waitlisted students at pilot sites will begin by December. Will the cost of the program/fees assessment change under the pilot model? Beyond the Bell will have the same fee structure as SACC. The sliding fee scale will still be available. So.. they're basically watering down SACC. |
Anonymous
| The FAQ is concerning. I don’t want exemptions that make it easier and faster to hire staff for childcare. https://engage.fairfaxcounty.gov/Customer/File/Full/bdf31206-e5b0-4fd2-be14-1f1c1cc5236a |
Anonymous
| Ugh. We are not at a pilot school thankfully but if they make SACC a less safe and more chaotic place for the same expensive cost we might just have to drop it. Which would suck with the number of teacher workdays and holidays on the calendar. Why do they want to ruin everything?! So much is worse than when my oldest kid started. |
Anonymous
| Another thought: I wonder too if this is a way to get ahead of the chaos that will be created by ES boundary changes. If you’ve been in SACC at school A there might not be space at your new school B…. Unless they expand capacity. I just wish they would leave everything alone. They are going to make everything worse in the process of so many changes at once. |
Anonymous
Not only that but if they change start times to move elementary schools either into the early spot or 30 minutes later, they're going to need to increase care capacity to ensure kids have care for the full time their parents are working. |
Anonymous
This is probably why they’re doing it— they need to respond to the criticism they’re getting for this calendar and its disregard for working parents. “Oh yes but we made more SACC space” is that fig leaf. |
Anonymous
| This is sad to me. We used morning SACC through elementary school for two kids 2015-2023 and had such a great experience. I hope they don't ruin this program. Plus, I can't imagine getting quality SACC personnel who would agree to work in this model. |
Anonymous
| Ugh, we're family friends with a really awesome SACC employee. They've already told us enough horror stories at the existing staffing ratios of kid misbehavior - things like scissor throwing where the parents made sure there were no penalties. Agree that they won't get quality people to work by making the employees' lives that much harder. |
Anonymous
| The way they try to sell it makes it sound horrible. We’re loosening regulations so we can have more kids than adults are typically able to supervise. And when we have a hard time retaining staff due to the increased burden we’ve imposed on them, it’ll be easier to hire unqualified and less vetted replacements. |