I want to make it clear that I was already going to attend the School Board meeting as a citizen when I read about the agenda the night before. I spoke representing the Wright County Family Child Care Association and the 180 licensed family child care providers in STMA. I did not speak with a "group" and I disagree with some of ABC Childcare's complaints. But, the Board did not allow me to speak to some of their points. They acted as if Just4Kids is a superior program to other offerings in the area...it's not. The children in their program are no more ready for kindergarten than children from many other programs in STMA, contrary to how the Board presented their points. Are their test scores higher? No. Are their children more self-confident, compassionate, attentive, etc. than children in other programs? No. More depends on the parents than their childcare/preschool program. Parents might ASSUME it's better because it's in a school, and I understand why they think that, but it's not the case. The Board argued that Just4Kids fulfills a mission of the school district, but they only take 4 1/2-year olds. Wouldn't a 3-year old program fit into the mission, too? Should providers be concerned that they might expand the program to other ages, considering the Board's argument that it fulfills their mission? PreK is NOT mandatory, nor should it be, but some Board members seemed to imply it is necessary. Again, I am just expressing the concerns of providers in our area about Just4Kids

Taxpayers pay for the costs of the building, including maintenance and utilities, but Just4Kids does not pay rent, maintenance, utilities, or property taxes. From what I gathered at the meeting, they do not pay a portion of the janitorial expenses or a prorated amount for shared staff, either. If an outside program wanted to use the space for a similar program and pay rent, would the district allow it? At least the activity fees in the high school fitness center help offset the costs of the area (in a small way), and it's used by high school students during the same hours as it's open to the public. If Just4Kids was auxiliary and brought some revenue to the district, it would be easier to support.

I will note that Just4Kids cannot be solely to blame for centers or family child care providers' openings. The economy started plummeting in 2008, centers constantly have preschool openings, and even many family child care providers always have an opening for preschoolers (because we are more restricted with younger ages). Having a top-notch program, creative marketing, a website, and siblings in your program can help ensure you stay full and, potentially, have a long waiting list. There are 70 children in the Just4Kids program. It's safe to assume that most of the children who would enroll next year would find care in the STMA area if the program closed. However, there are 180 licensed family child care providers and now 2 centers in STMA (3 if you include Hanover); only a handful of providers would gain a few preschoolers and the centers might see a slight bump. However, the centers are more expensive than Just4Kids.

Also, Dr. Behle mentioned the fire drills as a benefit of the program. He likely doesn't know that we are required to conduct monthly storm and fire drills. We also have myriad sensory activities, art, games, dramatic play, field trips every week, gym classes, yoga, Travel Tots, community service projects, nature walks, tons of outside time, cooking projects, natural and organic meals, natural cleaners, a small group, all the love of a family with all the benefits of a center, and more. School readiness is a loose term, the meaning of which many people who use it don't seem to understand. School readiness is about so much more than number and letter recognition, writing skills, phonics, color identification, etc. It's about knowing how to love and be loved, social skills, self-confidence, physical skills, kindness, emotional skills, the abilities to focus and follow directions, and much more. I've worked in schools, centers, and family child care for the past 22 years, including preschool programs, so I'm speaking from experience. There are benefits to each type of program, but I obviously think a family environment is better for the development of the whole child. :)

But, no matter the pros or cons to the program, it all comes down to the fact that government should NOT be competing with private businesses. Perhaps the students at the high school should come to a Board meeting and do a brief presentation on the Constitution. :)

I had to laugh when I read:
"What we're offering is fair competition for the private business community," he said. "The rates we charge are actually higher than what neighboring school districts tend to charge."

Ok, typical bait and switch. They're all comparing Just4Kids to area childcare, and no doubt Just4kids is cheaper. But when they want to LOOK a certain way they change the focus. Who in that room cared how Just4Kids compared with other school districts? Claiming "fair competition" is a total joke, given that Just4Kids doesn't pay for custodian, or rent, or even TAXES. Who can trust these people when they muddy the waters like that?

Pardon my crabbier than usual posts tonight, but I have one more. :)

How about:
"I think the program is a very good use of our resources," he said. "It generates revenue and is self-sustaining."
How can he say the program generates revenue and is self-sustaining?? I have yet to see the books, but it simply can't be true while at the same time it uses school facilities and custodial resources it doesn't charge parents for?

And the biggest joke of all:
"You strike me as people who can compete with us on an even playing field," he said.
Sometimes do you ever feel like flicking someone in the head when they aren't making any sense AND make condescending remarks? IF there were an even playing field, which there isn't. Come on, school board ~ time to put some honesty into the budget and charge parents appropriately. All of these claims would be nice, if true. And you CAN make it true...if only you were willing to do the math and be honest about the total costs.

Happy, right on. The school district should not be using taxpayer money to compete with business. If it is indeed true that we are giving them free rent, free cleaning, and free shared staff services, this program must end or start paying the cost of these things so they compete on an even playing field.
It is funny that Dr. Behle mentioned that St. Michael Catholic Schools started a preschool. Do they get taxpayer money or are they competing on an even playing field like all of the other businesses?

Wow, Happy's comments really don't leave any questions. Excellent research and knowledge base. You should attend school board meetings more often!

Hollee Saville: "We made these same pleas a couple years ago." For this board to vote 5-0 should concern a lot of people, especially over this issue. From what Helal reported, I read that this case was very well presented by the tax paying public. People need to understand one thing. This program will eventually morph into something bigger. All day Kindergarten for example. As of 2010, the all day kindergarten express program is fee-based and cost $2,600.00 for a school year with an additional $100.00 registration fee. Max enrollment 200 kids. Annual receipts for this program: $520,000. That does not count the $100 enrollment fee which nets an additional $20,000. I would love to see the numbers for a "non-competetive" program justify $540,000 to have 200 kids in school an additional 3 hours.
Now, keep in mind it was not too long ago that all day kindergarten was on the state docket. Keep in mind 4 year old pre school was also on the state docket. Keep in mind last year there was a misguided attempt by this current sitting Governor to unionize daycare providers. Keep in mind this is NOT a right to work state, hence union membership is mandatory. All of this ties together folks. Every little thread of this comes together in a nice big bow.

Thanks, JoJo and Eric. Dr. Behle mentioned "revenue," but they don't technically bring in extra revenue. They supposedly break even, according to Dr. Behle and Community Ed, but that's a numbers game (they exclude utilities, maintenance, janitorial costs, and, perhaps, shared staff costs). Plus, I believe they are listed in the Community Ed catalog and they are definitely listed on the school district website. That is an unfair advantage over private businesses.

As for rates, neighboring school districts--except for Rogers--are less expensive for childcare at every age. That includes centers and family child care providers, too. Each city is different, so they should compare rates within our district.

I wonder, are the teachers of Just4Kids preschool UNION members?

No, I don't believe St Michael Catholic School's preschool gets any taxpayer subsidies, though I can't say for certain whether they get school or church subsidies. But then again, who cares? They are their own entity, private, and I like that. :)

Lots of interesting points. Do you all feel the same way about Bright Beginnings Preschool? Should the district not offer this preschool - so as to not compete with the other area preschools?

I feel the same way about preschool. If all of the same conditions are true (free rent, free cleaning, etc.), then Bright Beginnings has an unfair competitive advantage, getting subsidized by taxpayers including the competition.

Bright Beginnings is the same issue because there are private preschools in the area that offer the same (and more) that Bright Beginnings does. I worked in the same type of program for 2 years in St. Louis Park and it was lots a fun, a wonderful program, but it provides the same service private ones do. I'm not sure about enrollment at the many PT preschool programs in STMA, so I can't speak to the actual need in the community for Bright Beginnings. If the others are full, it isn't a huge problem, except that BB should pay rent, cleaning, etc. as if they are a private business. Many community ed programs used to be auxiliary, bringing money into the school district.

My daughter's preschool had to lay off a wonderful teacher this year, so they are not at full capacity. This was most likely immediately caused by the Catholic School starting a preschool this year.

To bolster my comment above about this being in essence a backdoor attempt to increase the union rolls, this was published today by the Minnesota Majority, a Conservative group:
Forced Unionization Threatens Families, Small Businesses and Taxpayers.
When Governor Dayton issued an unlawful executive order to unionize self-employed, home-based childcare providers, we sued and we stopped him. A judge invalidated the governor’s order, ruling that he had exceeded his authority in attempting to wield powers reserved to the legislature.
There’s a new legislature convening at the Capitol on January 8th – one that’s controlled by the DFL and more receptive to the governor’s desire to help his government employee union allies at SEIU and AFSCME. The fight is coming back to the Capitol.
These government unions have been trying for over 6 years to finagle a way to skim a cut of subsidy payments meant to help low-income families better afford childcare.
Their scheme to unionize independent small business owners to collect union dues and “fair share” fees from non-members is an affront to families, small business owners and taxpayers.
It won’t end at childcare providers, either. Home health care providers and even the families of disabled relatives who receive government assistance in providing for their loved ones are under threat.

As a teacher, I believe in the importance and value of early childhood education. As a parent, I want my children to attend preschool. Since my husband and I work full-time, we knew that our children wouldn’t be able to attend a part-time preschool. Just 4 Kids is exactly what our family needed.

Our daughter attended Especially for Children when she was a baby, but at $1,200 a month, we couldn’t afford to keep her in that program and expand our family, so we switched to an in-home provider instead. While our in-home daycare provider provides a fantastic, loving home for our kids, she doesn’t provide a curriculum.

At Just 4 Kids, our daughter now gets the best of both worlds: Lots of socialization and playtime coupled with age-appropriate lessons. While Just 4 Kids costs more than an in-home setting, the gains our daughter is making socially and educationally just can’t be beat. As a taxpayer, I’m so thankful for Just 4 Kids. It allows my husband and me to work full-time while our daughter gets a jump start on her education.

As a teacher, I, too, believe in the importance and value of early childhood education. However, I also believe in the Constitution and the importance of limited government. Our country became great because of individuals and small businesses and NOT because of government. Many licensed family child care providers offer preschool programs (some are even custom-made vs. cookie cutter curriculum, and with few to zero worksheets; children do not learn best with worksheets). Families have more than 120 choices for licensed family childcare in STMA and 3 private childcare centers. Speaking for family child care providers, licensed family child care providers offer children ways to grow socially, cognitively, emotionally, physically, spiritually...all within an environment similar to their loving homes. I'm not knocking the quality of school programs, per se, as I've worked in several of them. But, it all comes down to Constitutionality: it's not fair to make taxpayers pay for a service used by only a small portion of the population (there are some exceptions to this, of course) and it's certainly not fair for government to compete with private businesses, especially when private businesses pay taxes to help our schools.

Most school districts have this type of program. Some are even accessible to families of all income levels, not just those who can afford it. Minneapolis Schools offer their program on a income based scale. Hopefully the school district here can eventually offer a sliding scale too. It's about investing in the future of our children, not about the government/ school district competing with private business. So then is Head Start taking you kids too? What about ECFE? Or ECSE?

Access to a preschool program is NOT a Constitutional guarantee. Access to a preschool program does NOT mean your child will develop better [insert socially, cognitively, emotionally, etc. here]. Again, MY business is in no way affected by this program as I have 30 families on my waiting list; however, it's unfair for government to compete with private businesses. The argument that "everyone else is doing it" is ridiculous, and I certainly wouldn't want to compare ourselves with Minneapolis Schools unless it was to show how DIFFERENT we are from them. ECSE is completely different as it's for children with special needs and there are no private programs to compete with it. Tax dollars should be used to help people with true special needs. ECFE has some benefits, too. As for Head Start, that is a $17 billion dollar waste to U.S. taxpayers EVERY SINGLE YEAR and mounds of research, articles, and experts support that statement. Head Start has no lasting benefits for children beyond first grade, if at all.