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As Gov. Phil Scott slowly reopens the economy from the shutdown prompted by the coronavirus, child care providers were given the green light to open their doors to the general public this week.
But only about half have done so, according to data collected by the state. And providers who are planning open soon say many families — and workers — are not rushing to return.
“In the last week or two, I’ve dropped to less than half of my pre-Covid enrollment coming back when I reopen on the 8th. And at least three of those families are waiting until mid-July to come back,” said Paula Nadeau, the owner of Tiny Dreamers, a center in Williston.
Child care providers, meanwhile, must meet a slew of new health and safety guidelines. With tuition payments just trickling in and required cleaning supplies both scarce and expensive, providers in the industry say making ends meet is a tall order.
“We’re heavy on staff needs right now. We’re heavy on supply needs. And we’re low on enrollment,” said Trisha Scharf, the owner of Children Unlimited, a center also in Williston.
The Scott administration has pledged a total of $6 million in restart grants to help both child care providers and summer camps reopen. But providers and advocates say millions more are needed.
Let’s Grow Kids, an early education advocacy group, argues the state should dedicate $33 million from its $1.25 billion federal relief package to early care and learning, including $13 million for hazard pay for workers.
“This is a hard message in this very difficult economic context to take in. But the child care system was in absolute survival mode in every single dimension before the pandemic. And this is really the straw that’s breaking the camel’s back,” Let’s Grow Kids CEO Aly Richards told the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.
The early care and learning field has also reacted with alarm to the news that both the University of Vermont and St. Michael’s College would shutter their on-campus child care programs for good. The programs, whose operations had been subsidized by the schools, had long been considered the gold standard for care. Speaking to lawmakers, Richards referred to their closures as “canaries in the coal mine.”
The centers had also served as training grounds for early educators, and Su White, the teaching director at Quarry Hill, a private preschool in Middlebury, said she worried about what would take their place.
“With that link in the chain disrupted, it’s really hard to know what the impact will be for our workforce,” she said.
The pandemic has brought the sector’s fragility into sharp relief. Early in the shutdown, the state pledged to stabilize the field by covering lost tuition revenues. But that bailout sunsetted at the end of May, and providers must now choose between reopening or forgoing government help.
The industry’s rocky return to business comes as the pandemic has highlighted both the sector’s importance to the economy and exacerbated its problems. Wages in child care hover around minimum wage, and workers regularly go without basic benefits, including health insurance. Profit margins are razor-thin — if they are there at all. Tuition costs for the average family, meanwhile, can top $20,000 a year.
“Nothing that we’re doing right now is equitable,” said Nadeau, who runs Tiny Dreamers.
Many of the families that she serves are struggling to pay tuition in the economic slowdown. Her center is operating at a deficit. When one staff member, whose child has a compromised immune system, told her she didn’t feel comfortable coming back to work, Nadeau said she just didn’t have the money to keep her on payroll or maintain her benefits.
“That didn’t feel good to me,” she said. “Her child is at risk.”
The moment has prompted soul-searching in the child care community, where workers and owners now say they are talking with renewed urgency about demanding a more substantial public investment, unionization — or even a wholesale absorption into the public sector.
“We don’t want our autonomy taken away as a private business owner. But we also know that parents cannot afford to continue to pay what they’re paying for child care. And we also know that teachers and directors can’t continue to get paid what they’re being paid,” said Ellen Drolette, who operates a home-based program in Burlington.
White, of Quarry Hill, said there isn’t agreement on what the solutions should be. But more people are finally talking.
“We all rally around the table in a Zoom conference and talk over each other and have a lot of ideas when we can carve out the time for it. And closure has offered that time. We’re seeing people at the table that don’t usually get to be there,” she said.
Jillian Waite, who has run a child care out of her home in Burlington for the last 10 years, said she won’t be reopening at all. Her husband had a heart attack earlier this year, and she worries that the virus could be lethal to him if he caught it.
“I just couldn’t risk it. I wouldn’t risk my husband’s safety for my program,” she said.
Waite ultimately decided to close because of health, and not financial reasons. But she notes that after a decade in business, last year was the first in which she turned a profit — and she only netted about $11,000.
“I think that the current system we have is broken. I’m not sure there’s a way to repair it to the point where it would still be viable,” she said.
Colin Meyn contributed reporting.
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