Board votes to keep child care program

After hearing parents plead for more child care options, officials of the Merced City School District voted to continue a before- and after-school program that had been on the chopping block due to funding pressures.

Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to keep the Youth Enrichment Program available for fee-paying families, but installing a new cost schedule and new name. The program will be called Extended Day Child Care and will cost a flat rate of $300 per child, per month.

Parent Shane Smith said he was grateful to the Merced City School District staff for “making the right choice – and the tough choice” to keep the program.

“I just want to voice my support ... for this program, if for no other reason than so many parents were relying upon it for next year.”

The YEP service receives funding from the state Department of Education to provide subsidized child care for low-income families. But the district staff decided earlier this year to discontinue the program for higher-income families next school year, saying the fees those parents paid were not enough to cover costs.

The program has offered child care before school, after school and during school vacations from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Peterson, John Muir and Sheehy elementary schools. State funding covers four classrooms of about 28 students each.

In March, non-subsidized families received a letter saying the program would no longer be available for them and listed other area child care providers.

Parents went to the school board in April, asking the district to find a way to keep the program. Board members expressed their support and asked the district staff to explore other options. The staff later met with parents to explain the costs of the program and the requirements the district must meet to offer the service.

“Those standards are different than what a private-sector day care provider would have to uphold,” said Paula Heupel, assistant superintendent for educational services, in a telephone interview with the Sun-Star on Wednesday.

Heupel said staff members and parents discussed five different pay structure options and transportation issues.

After the meeting, the district sent a survey to parents to see which pay structure was preferred, how many years families would use the service and if they still would send their children if transportation was unavailable.

Nearly all of the 48 families who currently pay for YEP responded to the survey, Heupel said. More than 80 percent said they preferred the flat-rate price, and the same number said they would likely continue to send their children even if transportation wasn’t offered.

Parents understand “that we do want to provide the best service we can, but we have to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Heupel said.

Previously, families paid varied amounts depending on how many students they had in the program and when their children attended, ranging from $200 a month to more than $300.

Smith said he hopes the district continues the program, which is being renamed to differentiate it from the state-funded service, indefinitely.

“What I heard was a strong voice that parents see this program as one of high quality,” he told the board. “I think it also speaks to the place that public education has in our community. There really is no better alternative than what you all can provide.”

Heupel said: “We are glad we could find a solution.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 9:07 AM with the headline "Board votes to keep child care program."