Dive Brief:
- The Bay District Schools, which serves students in and around Panama City, Florida, has been closed since Hurricane Michael struck the region on Oct. 10. One of the obstacles faced by the school district is that many of the child care centers that teachers and other employees typically use were damaged by the hurricane, according to 1011now.com.
- To address the problem, the district will provide teachers and other staff members with on-site child care services. The school-based centers will be dispersed throughout the school system so they can be accessible to all 1,800 employees. Earlier this week, district leaders took an initial step toward putting their plan into action and paving the way for the school year to resume by holding a job fair for child care providers.
- Another major obstacle for the district is housing. Damages caused by Hurricane Michael have forced many school district employees to sleep in cars, tents, waterlogged homes and their classrooms. District leaders are working with community leaders to find solutions to the housing problem and meet a tentative mid-November deadline for resuming school.
Dive Insight:
While Hurricane Michael may have forced the hand of Bay District Schools when it comes to providing child care services to their employees, they may have stumbled upon an effective tool for recruiting and retaining teachers for the long haul. Today’s teaching force is increasingly made up of younger teachers with growing families, prompting some school districts to take note of the 14% who say they leave their jobs because of pregnancy or family issues.
Teachers who have benefited from school-based child care services point to the following perks: They tend to be easily accessible; their hours typically coincide with school district workdays; some provide camp-like activities during the summer months; early learning expectations tend to be aligned with those of the parents; and – of course – the cost savings, which can amount to as much as 20% of a family’s income.
Implementing an on-site child care program, however, can be challenging. It’s costly, requires additional space and meeting licensing requirements. Still, several school systems, including two serving Skokie, Illinois, and Carmel, Indiana, have found that the pros outweigh the cons. Teachers in Skokie, for example, told Education Week that in-house child care services give them greater peace of mind, allow them to participate in after-school faculty meetings and cut down on the stops they have to make before and after school.
Roger McMicheal, assistant superintendent for business at Carmel Clay Schools in Indiana, said in the article that he knew of “more than one employee” who turned down job opportunities elsewhere because of the district’s child care program. As he says, “It’s just good business.”