Fine, they are closed. You don't need the spot.

Anonymous wrote:Yes you’re a jerk. Stop making this worse for people

Nope. It's weird to charge people for a service they are not receiving. Obviously this is an emergency and it's fair to ask for help, but daycare workers aren't the only people being laid off. At least there's hope of getting a job as a nanny.

17:27 again. I meant to say that I don't think it's a jerk move...though I also appreciate that our preschool was really up front about the trade offs and knowing some people will need to cancel.

I was going to post similar! I feel terrible if it will hurt staff (but I hate the admin) and they obviously won’t enroll a new family now.

But I could use the money to pay someone to watch my kids while I work, which would be SO much easier.

DS's preschool sent out a notice that they would not be refunding March and asking for April payments at a 20% reduction...otherwise they would have to lay off staff (which I believe). They also said that they understood not everyone could afford this, in which case children would have to re-enroll as new students when they re-open. In the meantime, they would be setting up daily zoom and activity recommendations for the kids who remained enrolled.

I'm okay with this. I think a lot of people cancelled and asked for refunds, which is understandable. DH and I both have pretty steady jobs (though we get a lot of our income as bonus which we probably won't get next year). I'm going to pay the discounted rate. I would hate to see all of the preschool teachers lose their jobs.

Go ahead.

Hey guys, not everyone can pay the cost of daycare when the service won't be provided for months. If it is a big daycare center, they took your $150 deposit with zero chance that you would get a spot within a year of when you needed it. You need to give the required notice, but beyond that you are not obligated. Not all of the people in the DMV can afford to spend 1000s a month for an unavailable service.

Yes you’re a jerk. Stop making this worse for people

Anonymous wrote:You are fine. They will charge another family to hold the spot.

Doubtful. People who truly need daycare need it now. People who don't truly need it are not going to pay during a pandemic for a daycare that is closed.

What other preschool will be open?

No, it's not a terrible thing to do. They should not be continuing to charge if they are not operating unless they are explicitly asking for donations and letting families decide what they want to do. I think 4 weeks is generous enough.

Most people are not going to pay thousands of dollars a month for care they are not receiving during the biggest economic catastrophe of our lifetimes. That's not a reasonable thing to ask for or expect. Our daycare closed as well and I was happy to keep paying for a few weeks, but beyond that I would not.

It's fine.

You are fine. They will charge another family to hold the spot.

If you liked the care you got and you can afford it then give 8 weeks of notice with payment and a good online review.

Our daycare is shut down for the foreseeable future. This is my child’s last year before he starts K in September. We were strongly thinking of pulling him out over the summer and enrolling him in a program more tailored to his special needs for June July August. Now I’m thinking we should give our 4 weeks notice and go ahead and pull him out effective at the end of April. Is it a terrible thing to do?