Expanded MD child care class sizes
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Nobody listens to us or do not take our concerns seriously. We don’t get answers because they feel that they can ignore us, after all we are just daycares. Unfortunately we do not have a union or a strong body to voice our concerns. There are associations but they’re not very strong. I’m still at half capacity despite Maryland saying I can open up fully because Montgomery county continues to limit enrollment. |
Anonymous
Have you talked to anyone from the state? I’m not sure the county has a legal leg to stand on here- what could they actually do if you expanded capacity? |
Anonymous
I have not personally tried but I know other people who have and everybody gets the runaround. we have been referred back to our licensing offices and have been told that we must follow Montgomery County don’t know anything about a law. If I were to open up to full capacity and I would have an inspection it would be written up. There would be some very scary language for noncompliance that when parents check me it would sound like I was a terrible and negligible provider. |
Anonymous
Your local licensing actually said you'd get a non-compliance letter from them if you followed the state rules, but not the county ones? I find that hard to believe, given that that the licensing requirements all come from the state. I know the MoCo licensing office is having a hard time. They're state employees, but have close ties to county government. They're stuck in the middle of a fight between the MSDE and MoCo, and they're not getting support from either side. However, they really shouldn't be threatening licensing actions against local providers. If they're really doing that, someone should read out to Steven Hicks ( steven.hicks (@t) maryland.gov ), the Assistant Superintendent for the Division of Early Childhood. He's been pretty responsive to me in the past. |
Anonymous
No, they did not say that but that is how the system works. If we do something that is not compliant we get written up no matter how small it is or if it is interpreted differently by different specialists. So for example one specialist says you can use a certain toy but the next specialist comes about and says you cannot use it and you get written up for having a hazardous item. I was once written up for having the wrong kind of hand soap in the bathrooms, it was regular antibacterial soap. This has been acceptable for 20 years but my new specialist said It was noncompliant and wrote me up for having hazardous chemicals in the presence of children. She was wrong, I was right because there was nothing in the rules about it but it remained on my record. All of that to say that I won’t just open up because the state says yes. But I am very confused right now. |
Anonymous
But opening up to full capacity doesn't violate the licensing rules from MSDE. And the local specialists are employees of the state, not the county. |
Anonymous
They are the worst. They pulled that metric out of thin air. Meanwhile, restaurants are actually significantly contributing to spread and day cares are not and the many of the cleaning measures being imposed on them aren’t really based on evidence nor are the enrollment limits. When is our health department going to start using public health data to start making their decisions around COVID? |
Anonymous
| Have any MoCo child cares reopened to full capacity? |
Anonymous
|
There's a hearing on Thursday to vote on the county's child care restrictions. According to the email, it would say: "Capacity may not exceed 50 percent for child care centers."
That would be a substantial reduction for young children, even compared to the previous restrictions, right? Public Hearing Notice: COVID-19 Local Order ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 2, 2020—The Montgomery County Council will introduce, hold a public hearing, and vote on the following Executive Order beginning at 11 a.m. on Thursday, November 5, 2020. The deadline to sign up to testify is Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. The Council is scheduled to act on a Resolution approving Executive Order No. 122-20, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated September 29, 2020 sitting as the County Council. If the Council approves the Executive Order, the Council, sitting as the Board of Health, is scheduled to introduce, hold a public hearing, and act on a Board of Health regulation adopting Executive Order No. 122-20, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated September 29, 2020 as a Board of Health Regulation. If adopted, Executive Order No. 122-20, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated September 29, 2020 would make the following changes to the prior orders with a proposed effective date of November 5, 2020, at 5 p.m.: Child care * Capacity may not exceed 50 percent for child care centers. Escape rooms * Permitted to open with only six people per room or game. Food service establishments * Clarifies that, absent a Late Night Alcohol Sales Permit, food service establishments may not sell or provide alcohol to anyone after 10 p.m., and that all alcohol must be collected from patrons by 10 p.m. * Adds language requiring collection of information to assist with contact tracing. * Late Night Alcohol Sales Program * Opens the program to establishments that have not been cited or closed during the last 60 days for applications. * Clarifies automatic suspension language. * Amends the number of average days that trigger the suspension of the program from three days to seven days. General housekeeping * Updates State Executive Order numbers, County Executive Order numbers, dates, and references to other paragraphs in the Order. Letter of approval section * Provides deadlines by which to submit a request for a Letter of Approval and penalties for holding an event without a Letter of Approval. Playgrounds * Provides that playgrounds that cannot comply with the cleaning requirements as stated in the general operating requirements section must post notice that that the playground is not cleaned on an hourly basis. Sports * Removes flag football as a high-risk sport. * Adds that a gathering size can exceed 50 people solely to accommodate the presence of one parent or guardian per child participant. * Clarifies that for outdoor sports only parents guardians and immediate family are permitted to spectate. * Adds that outdoor ice rinks would be permitted to open with size restrictions and after submitting a request for a Letter of Approval before reopening. The proposed effective date would be November 5, 2020, at 5 p.m. Documents and information will be available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council. NOTE: During the Covid-19 state of emergency, the public is not able to be physically present in the Council Hearing Room. Residents who would like to call in to testify at a Council public hearing need to preregister on the Council's web page at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html . Once the public hearing sign up request form is submitted and the public hearing list is created, individuals will receive separate confirmation notifications that include the appropriate phone number to call for the public hearing. Community members also have the option to provide audio, video and written testimony to the Council using a recently developed online testimony form on the Council's web page which can be found at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html . The testimony provided with the online option carries the same weight as testimony given at a public hearing. Councilmembers consider all comments as part of their deliberations. Comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v; via email at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov; by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. For information or to express an opinion call 240-777-7900. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD). |
Anonymous
| WTF! Off to write the council. |