Anonymous
Post 04/28/2020 07:02     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
My daycare is closed through the end of this school year (we don’t pay summers as I teach). I paid her for April but was leaning towards not for May and June as school year is now “over.” Yesterday, she emailed everyone thanking those who paid in April but letting us know no more payment was required. She got into PPP. We’re lucky to have her.
Anonymous
Post 04/28/2020 06:32     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:Ours is actually open with modified schedule and some precautions. Therefore, it was up to us to attend or not attend, but full price tuition (nearly 4K for 2 kids) was expected. We have a high risk member of our family and don’t feel safe sending the kids to daycare, but we also couldn’t justify breaking the bank (4K/month was a huge stretch for us during good times). We are worried pay cuts are looming for one or both of us. So we felt forced into withdrawing. I tried to negotiate reduced payment, but was told no.

It’s frustrating that instead of closing and trying to take out the payroll loan or have teachers collect unemployment that they decided to stay open and put the burden on families. From discussion with friends who attend, almost no kids are actually going in and some of the older teachers are unhappy to be there.


Ugh that sucks. But from what I hear, some places have closed and are STILL placing the burden on families- pay up or lose your spot kind of thing. They don't want to be bothered with the loan (which I can understand to a degree).
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 22:32     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Ours is actually open with modified schedule and some precautions. Therefore, it was up to us to attend or not attend, but full price tuition (nearly 4K for 2 kids) was expected. We have a high risk member of our family and don’t feel safe sending the kids to daycare, but we also couldn’t justify breaking the bank (4K/month was a huge stretch for us during good times). We are worried pay cuts are looming for one or both of us. So we felt forced into withdrawing. I tried to negotiate reduced payment, but was told no.

It’s frustrating that instead of closing and trying to take out the payroll loan or have teachers collect unemployment that they decided to stay open and put the burden on families. From discussion with friends who attend, almost no kids are actually going in and some of the older teachers are unhappy to be there.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 21:10     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else receive notice that DC OSSE will stop providing grant money to a currently-shuttered-for-COVID, non-DCPS year-round PK3 starting in June? This is my first year with a child in a subsidized program so I was surprised.


No, was this an email they sent to you? I don't see it on their website.


This was in a letter from my child's school.


I’m a director of a center in DC that takes subsidy. They’ve not told us in so many words that they’ll stop paying in June. They have said that funding is not as plentiful and that they encourage us to prepare to open in June. It’s a really tough call. I’m hoping the guidance changes because the way it is written now, we will not be able to take all of our children back given current limits on group size. The illness guidelines means children will be sent home left and right. Plus staff over60 years old or with certain medical conditions like diabetes can’t work without a doctor’s permission. Add to that staff with children under 18 who elect to use 12 weeks of Families First Coronavirus Response Act leave-we will be severely understaffed.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 20:21     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else receive notice that DC OSSE will stop providing grant money to a currently-shuttered-for-COVID, non-DCPS year-round PK3 starting in June? This is my first year with a child in a subsidized program so I was surprised.


No, was this an email they sent to you? I don't see it on their website.


This was in a letter from my child's school.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 16:51     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else receive notice that DC OSSE will stop providing grant money to a currently-shuttered-for-COVID, non-DCPS year-round PK3 starting in June? This is my first year with a child in a subsidized program so I was surprised.


No, was this an email they sent to you? I don't see it on their website.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 15:55     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Pp here - bringing someone to live with us like an AU PAIR (but American). Found someone through mommy network.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 14:49     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Did anyone else receive notice that DC OSSE will stop providing grant money to a currently-shuttered-for-COVID, non-DCPS year-round PK3 starting in June? This is my first year with a child in a subsidized program so I was surprised.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 12:41     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:I must go to the same daycare as PPs. I’m doing withdraw and getting a babysitter. My kid won’t do the online school.


how does one hire a babysitter right now? without testing, how can anyone be sure they are bringing healthy people into their homes?

I'm not trying to be snarky, just genuinely curious. i could use the extra help but really don't want to bring someone into our home that might not be healthy. What if we give it to the babysitter?
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2020 11:06     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
First off, I sympathize with child care providers in general and recognize there is no easy answer. Our daycare is part of a non-profit network and is not charging tuition during the closure, but as a result I've grown extremely worried about their longterm economic viability. They are soliciting donations (we donated, but apparently they only raised a small percentage of April operating costs) and got a PPP loan. But as a non-profit, I am deeply skeptical about their ability to pay it back. Obviously I'm coming at this as a parent and there is likely much I don't know, but I wonder if they wouldn't have been better off furloughing the staff (so they could claim unemployment) and focus on covering rent, healthcare benefits, and maybe a few admin staff salaries as needed. What if this continues through summer?? I just don't see how they will survive.

Anonymous
Post 04/25/2020 17:06     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How can they give you reopening criteria when the decision isn't in their hands? It'll depend on what the state says. Right now most schools are mandated to be closed, except for some daycares only for essential personnel.


Then say "we will open as soon a permitted subject to (1) (2) (3)"


Isn't it obvious that they would open up as soon as they're permitted by the state? Who wouldn't do that?


Places with teachers who are afraid to work.
Places who don't know how many kids they will actually have coming in.
Places who may not be able to pay their bills but aren't sure when loan money is coming in... etc etc

OP, I sympathize totally. My kids are school-age now but they do aftercare at a facility we love which is also a neighborhood preschool. It's SO frustrating and chicken/egg because they don't know what the requirements will be (for example, they emailed the other day that a lot of childcare places are looking into the feasibility of 10 people/room) or how long the orders will go on. But it's a massive expense for most families (when my kids were younger we paid $4k/mo so I TOTALLY get it) and people need to be able to plan. And then some are threatening to kick out people who don't pay during closure, which feels awful, but at the same time, they need a way to figure out how to manage if they DO have to have smaller classes. SO hard.


Also consider supplies. Centers cannot open without adequate amounts of bleach and gloves. They are both required by licensing.
Anonymous
Post 04/25/2020 14:53     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
I must go to the same daycare as PPs. I’m doing withdraw and getting a babysitter. My kid won’t do the online school.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2020 12:52     Subject: Re:Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are going to take all our money and give us nothing but Zoom in return. Awesome.


You are free to stop paying and find a new spot when things reopen.


Nope. There’s an annual contract.


That contract assumes they are providing you a service.


Sue and lawyer up


Not PP but we love our preschool. We also signed a contract for the year and cannot just stop paying. The last thing we want to do is sue. But we are in a tough spot. We've paid in full for the last two months even though they've been closed since mid March. But if they aren't reopening, we are going to need a nanny. We really cannot afford both a nanny and full preschool tuition.

I wish they would offer a discount or at least a credit towards next year. I would still happily pay something to hold our spot and pay teachers. But expecting full tuition for the next several months for a service that isn't being provided is unreasonable.


I'm in the same boat, PP, and we're not sure what to do at this point. I think we will be direct and request a discount or credit towards next year.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2020 12:35     Subject: Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How can they give you reopening criteria when the decision isn't in their hands? It'll depend on what the state says. Right now most schools are mandated to be closed, except for some daycares only for essential personnel.


Then say "we will open as soon a permitted subject to (1) (2) (3)"


Isn't it obvious that they would open up as soon as they're permitted by the state? Who wouldn't do that?


Places with teachers who are afraid to work.
Places who don't know how many kids they will actually have coming in.
Places who may not be able to pay their bills but aren't sure when loan money is coming in... etc etc

OP, I sympathize totally. My kids are school-age now but they do aftercare at a facility we love which is also a neighborhood preschool. It's SO frustrating and chicken/egg because they don't know what the requirements will be (for example, they emailed the other day that a lot of childcare places are looking into the feasibility of 10 people/room) or how long the orders will go on. But it's a massive expense for most families (when my kids were younger we paid $4k/mo so I TOTALLY get it) and people need to be able to plan. And then some are threatening to kick out people who don't pay during closure, which feels awful, but at the same time, they need a way to figure out how to manage if they DO have to have smaller classes. SO hard.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2020 12:35     Subject: Re:Has your daycare/preschool told you what the plan is?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes. They are going to take all our money and give us nothing but Zoom in return. Awesome.


You are free to stop paying and find a new spot when things reopen.


Nope. There’s an annual contract.


That contract assumes they are providing you a service.


Sue and lawyer up


Not PP but we love our preschool. We also signed a contract for the year and cannot just stop paying. The last thing we want to do is sue. But we are in a tough spot. We've paid in full for the last two months even though they've been closed since mid March. But if they aren't reopening, we are going to need a nanny. We really cannot afford both a nanny and full preschool tuition.

I wish they would offer a discount or at least a credit towards next year. I would still happily pay something to hold our spot and pay teachers. But expecting full tuition for the next several months for a service that isn't being provided is unreasonable.