Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in a center in a federal building. The agency they are housed in was funded for the last shutdown but they told us if the agency’s funding ran out, they’d have to close but we’d have to keep paying to hold our spot. I imagine it will be the same for this.

OP here. I think the fact that childcare is in SUCH high demand here works to the provider's benefit in these situations. You obviously don't have to pay for a service you aren't receiving, but in my mind it's a little dirty to hold customers hostage to the fear of losing their quality childcare when your spot is no longer guaranteed. As another poster mentioned, if the daycare is closed for two months, that's two months that they don't have to pay for supplies, food, electricity, cleaning services, etc. That money is STRAIGHT PROFIT for the center. I've always said that I understand the need for the teachers to continue to receive their paycheck. They are already underpaid and have to eat. But the entire cost of tuition? GTFO.

Daycares have zero problem telling their customers that your tuition won't be reduced if you're on vacation, if your child gets sick and doesn't come in, etc. But to suggest that they return the favor to us when they aren't providing services, they completely balk.

I hear you OP that this is a tough situation for parents. But what you are talking about is a fraction of the daycare's costs, which are mostly personnel. And also the cost of the facility itself (rent). I really don't think most daycares are getting a huge windfall because of the pandemic. That's a little absurd. They will probably lose money as not everyone will continue to pay. Unless they stop paying their employees, in which case they should definitely stop charging any tuition.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in a center in a federal building. The agency they are housed in was funded for the last shutdown but they told us if the agency’s funding ran out, they’d have to close but we’d have to keep paying to hold our spot. I imagine it will be the same for this.

OP here. I think the fact that childcare is in SUCH high demand here works to the provider's benefit in these situations. You obviously don't have to pay for a service you aren't receiving, but in my mind it's a little dirty to hold customers hostage to the fear of losing their quality childcare when your spot is no longer guaranteed. As another poster mentioned, if the daycare is closed for two months, that's two months that they don't have to pay for supplies, food, electricity, cleaning services, etc. That money is STRAIGHT PROFIT for the center. I've always said that I understand the need for the teachers to continue to receive their paycheck. They are already underpaid and have to eat. But the entire cost of tuition? GTFO.

Daycares have zero problem telling their customers that your tuition won't be reduced if you're on vacation, if your child gets sick and doesn't come in, etc. But to suggest that they return the favor to us when they aren't providing services, they completely balk.

My kid is in a center in a federal building. The agency they are housed in was funded for the last shutdown but they told us if the agency’s funding ran out, they’d have to close but we’d have to keep paying to hold our spot. I imagine it will be the same for this.

I’m a fed. I just got back from maternity leave where I used most of my leave and took a ton of LWOP. According to OPM, if I telework, I need account for the time spent working versus providing childcare.

So... yeah, I have paid leave (20 hrs!!!) and I can’t telework (so more LWOP or like basically caring for baby/working/never sleeping) and still paying for daycare.

I’m a highly paid fed, but if this goes on for more than a month... what am I going to do? Sell stocks? Ha! Use savings? Maybe I’ll save that money for food.

Perhaps a credit for a time equal to the amount of time you'll be out?

Anonymous wrote:Nope, sorry. This is a cost of doing business for the daycare, not me. It will just have to come out of their profit for the year. They are obviously in business to make a profit. Some years you make a profit and some years you don't so this will just have to be one of those years. Their crisis plan should not be to rely on the goodwill of their customers who aren't currently receiving services.

I agree, but also believe they have no obligation to keep your spot. In many cases, the parties meeting in the middle seems to make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you being paid for by your work and allowed to telecommute?

Telecommute is nearly impossible when you need to also care for a 1 year old.

Exactly! I can barely squeeze in 10 minutes of emailing before my 1.5 year old wanders over and climbs on my lap to try and play, or gets into something he shouldn’t in a bid for my attention. Nap times are a possibility but not totally reliable and only a couple hours of the day.

I get 20 days of paid time off a year (sick and vacation) but only have about 5 days saved up right now. This was our first year of daycare and I had to use a lot of PTO for child sick days and the days Daycare has been closed (eg, fed holidays I don’t get off, the week between Christmas and New Years). So my paid time off will go really fast if our daycare closes and I’m stuck using PTO.

I would expect to pay for a center. Maybe a reduced rate?

At the in home we used, we didn't pay if she was unavailable. This wouldn't be under her control really so I don't know how she would handle it.

Nope, sorry. This is a cost of doing business for the daycare, not me. It will just have to come out of their profit for the year. They are obviously in business to make a profit. Some years you make a profit and some years you don't so this will just have to be one of those years. Their crisis plan should not be to rely on the goodwill of their customers who aren't currently receiving services.

Anonymous wrote:Can people please specify whether they have paid leave? I find it hard to believe a ton of DCUM posters can afford preschool but have no paid leave. Maybe I'm wrong, though!

I am a teacher and I will have paid leave, but I, and other teachers (in MCPS anyway) are in a privileged situation: for up to three weeks, central office will provide work to kids and we won't have to worry about remote learning - at least not yet. I'll be able to focus on my two kids, one of whom is in daycare full time.

However, if I weren't getting paid, I wouldn't be able to afford the daycare tuition. We are a two income household, but we also have a mortgage and bills and we aren't wealthy by any means.

I have a kid heading to K next year. We had planned to keep her in daycare through all or most of the summer. But if we have to pay for an extended break, we would have to rethink that plan. It might leave us scrambling, either before or during the summer, but it might be worth it.

Anonymous wrote:How many people here are in a situation where they can afford to pay for preschool but do not have paid leave at their job?

Honest question.

I have a very limited amount of paid leave. It's a new job and you have to accrue leave so I have 4 days total right now. If I'm not getting a paycheck, we won't be able to afford the preschool tuition AND all our bills.

Anonymous wrote:Can people please specify whether they have paid leave? I find it hard to believe a ton of DCUM posters can afford preschool but have no paid leave. Maybe I'm wrong, though!

Most of us have SOME paid leave but not enough to cover an extended closure of a month or more.

Anonymous wrote:Can people please specify whether they have paid leave? I find it hard to believe a ton of DCUM posters can afford preschool but have no paid leave. Maybe I'm wrong, though!

I get 5 sick days (already used 2 this year so 3 lef)
10 vacation days (already used 3 this year so 7 left)

After that I am out of luck and money to pay daycare.

Can people please specify whether they have paid leave? I find it hard to believe a ton of DCUM posters can afford preschool but have no paid leave. Maybe I'm wrong, though!