are we really supposed to pay for 3 months of a daycare we can't use?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole situation is insane. I am an essential employee and my husband is able to telework but actually has insane amounts of work and has been working into night hours to stay on top of it. We were forced to bring in a caretaker to provide care for our daughter while we work and are obviously paying for it. This is a very expensive area to live in and even both of us have full time jobs, we were already living paycheck to paycheck. How in the world is it reasonable to expect tuition payments for service that is not provided? We are talking thousands of dollars for moths of closure. Am I really expected to take out a loan to make those payments? I am not getting paid if I don't work, it is as simple as that. We made a decision to pull our daughter out and will have to look into other schools when this is over. I know there is tremendous pressure to continue making the payments and as much as I sympathize with preschools and childcare providers, we have to think about sustainability, not only theirs but ours as well. Are you going to be getting paid if you get sick and need months of health care? Is there a possibility that either you or your spouse loose the job in the near future? Do you have a hefty savings account that will not miss a few thousand dollars? We don't, and that is why we made the decision that we did.

Most preschools and daycare run on very thin margins. Many will not survive this and will not reopen. That is why parents are paying - because they want their preschools and daycare to be open when their children can return to care.
When teachers don't get paid, they have to file for unemployment and actively look for other jobs while they collect any monies. This means they likely won't be back at the same school when the dust settles. Are you ready for a complete staff turn-over?

Daycare and preschool isn't just like a nail salon or a hairdresser. You aren't just paying cash money in exchange for a flat service. $ = care. That's what a babysitter does. Parents are paying to maintain the relationships between their caretakers and their children. There is so much change going on right now. I don't want my kid to have to go through all this only return to a completely new school with all new faces and kids. I'd like to return them to some semblance of normalcy.

We looked long and hard before we found a preschool we liked. Would we find one we liked as well. Not sure?

If you can't afford it, you're kids will adjust. But for those who can, they are willing to make some sacrifices, as long as they can, in order to maintain established relationships and familiar surroundings in this time of upheaval. It's not insane.

I realize that many preschools run on very thin margins, but so are many families. What "sacrifice" means for you, may not mean the same for others. Nobody wants their childcare providers to go out of business, but that doesn't mean that families who choose to pull their children out of should be guilted into paying outrageous amounts of money. And yes, to many many working families, $4k is outrageous. As far as established environments and familiar surroundings, perhaps your children are very different, but I can guarantee that mine will be starting over regardless what school she goes to after staying home for 3 months. I agree that paying your childcare is a kind thing to do if you can afford it, but please don't make the rest of us seem heartless because we chose our family financial survival over someone else's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole situation is insane. I am an essential employee and my husband is able to telework but actually has insane amounts of work and has been working into night hours to stay on top of it. We were forced to bring in a caretaker to provide care for our daughter while we work and are obviously paying for it. This is a very expensive area to live in and even both of us have full time jobs, we were already living paycheck to paycheck. How in the world is it reasonable to expect tuition payments for service that is not provided? We are talking thousands of dollars for moths of closure. Am I really expected to take out a loan to make those payments? I am not getting paid if I don't work, it is as simple as that. We made a decision to pull our daughter out and will have to look into other schools when this is over. I know there is tremendous pressure to continue making the payments and as much as I sympathize with preschools and childcare providers, we have to think about sustainability, not only theirs but ours as well. Are you going to be getting paid if you get sick and need months of health care? Is there a possibility that either you or your spouse loose the job in the near future? Do you have a hefty savings account that will not miss a few thousand dollars? We don't, and that is why we made the decision that we did.

Most preschools and daycare run on very thin margins. Many will not survive this and will not reopen. That is why parents are paying - because they want their preschools and daycare to be open when their children can return to care.
When teachers don't get paid, they have to file for unemployment and actively look for other jobs while they collect any monies. This means they likely won't be back at the same school when the dust settles. Are you ready for a complete staff turn-over?

Daycare and preschool isn't just like a nail salon or a hairdresser. You aren't just paying cash money in exchange for a flat service. $ = care. That's what a babysitter does. Parents are paying to maintain the relationships between their caretakers and their children. There is so much change going on right now. I don't want my kid to have to go through all this only return to a completely new school with all new faces and kids. I'd like to return them to some semblance of normalcy.

We looked long and hard before we found a preschool we liked. Would we find one we liked as well. Not sure?

If you can't afford it, you're kids will adjust. But for those who can, they are willing to make some sacrifices, as long as they can, in order to maintain established relationships and familiar surroundings in this time of upheaval. It's not insane.

It is insane to charge full tuition. If you want to donate it, great. But really, these preschools need to temporarily lay off their employees and allow them to collect unemployment, which is very generous right now. Instead they are punishing loyal families who are trying to work and take care of their children (or as PP said, hire other care). It is so problematic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I realize that many preschools run on very thin margins, but so are many families. What "sacrifice" means for you, may not mean the same for others. Nobody wants their childcare providers to go out of business, but that doesn't mean that families who choose to pull their children out of should be guilted into paying outrageous amounts of money. And yes, to many many working families, $4k is outrageous. As far as established environments and familiar surroundings, perhaps your children are very different, but I can guarantee that mine will be starting over regardless what school she goes to after staying home for 3 months. I agree that paying your childcare is a kind thing to do if you can afford it, but please don't make the rest of us seem heartless because we chose our family financial survival over someone else's.

For real.

[Anonymous]

this whole convo makes me regret nothing about having DW be a full time mom for our 3 kids. wow.

I tell people .... "yeah, they go to a nice small in-home daycare. right downstairs"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this whole convo makes me regret nothing about having DW be a full time mom for our 3 kids. wow.

I tell people .... "yeah, they go to a nice small in-home daycare. right downstairs"

Trust me, us “part time moms” are more than happy not to have you in our circle. Take care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this whole convo makes me regret nothing about having DW be a full time mom for our 3 kids. wow.

I tell people .... "yeah, they go to a nice small in-home daycare. right downstairs"

Trust me, us “part time moms” are more than happy not to have you in our circle. Take care.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An in-home provider that isn’t following social distancing rules isn’t one I would return to. It’s that simple.

What does that have to do with this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An in-home provider that isn’t following social distancing rules isn’t one I would return to. It’s that simple.

This. Right now is exactly the wrong time for an unregulated childcare provider to be ignoring public health guidance.

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't understand your question. If you are not planning on returning, just give them notice of that (I am sure there is something about that in the contract, giving 2-weeks notice of whatever), and be done. Since you already paid for April, it sounds like that was your last payment. What is your quesstion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An in-home provider that isn’t following social distancing rules isn’t one I would return to. It’s that simple.

What does that have to do with this thread?

I re read the thread twice trying to figure out where this came from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An in-home provider that isn’t following social distancing rules isn’t one I would return to. It’s that simple.

What does that have to do with this thread?

I re read the thread twice trying to figure out where this came from.

It's in the OP but not really related to the question:

DH and I are both working -- our provider has kids and has posted on social media that she allows them to do playdates with other kids but outside and they know them well so it's all well and good. It's obviously not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want a daycare to come back to?

No guarantee of that. It could still close and the OP would be SOL.

[Anonymous]

For those still paying during closure, how long are you willing to do so? Are you willing/able to pay through summer into the fall if things can’t reopen until then? Or if your center reopens before things seem fully safe again, would you still send your child? If not, would you still pay while you voluntarily keep your kid(s) at home?

We’ve paid for half of March and all of April, but salaries are being cut at DH’s office and my hours are reduced due to lack of childcare. If I thought things would mostly be back to “normal” by June, I’d probably also pay for May.

But I’m thinking it will be awhile until we feel comfortable sending them back and we need to be careful with our money due to salary cuts. Anyone else unenrolling if your center expects full price ongoing? For us it’s nearly 4K, which stretches us financially even in good times and our center is unwilling to work with us despite our salary cut.

[Anonymous]

We unenrolled in April. Loved the daycare but we will find a new one if necessary when the time comes. I had a difficult time during the last recession so just not willing to spend thousands on a service I am not using when no one knows when everything will reopen.

[Anonymous]

I realize that many preschools run on very thin margins, but so are many families. What "sacrifice" means for you, may not mean the same for others. Nobody wants their childcare providers to go out of business, but that doesn't mean that families who choose to pull their children out of should be guilted into paying outrageous amounts of money. And yes, to many many working families, $4k is outrageous. As far as established environments and familiar surroundings, perhaps your children are very different, but I can guarantee that mine will be starting over regardless what school she goes to after staying home for 3 months. I agree that paying your childcare is a kind thing to do if you can afford it, but please don't make the rest of us seem heartless because we chose our family financial survival over someone else's

If you could afford it when you were using it, you can afford it even though you're not using it.