Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Wonderschool pitches state-funded pilot to expand child care slots in San Juan County
Loading...
Summary
Wonderschool representatives told the San Juan County Commission they can recruit and train child-care providers and create licensed slots for local families if the state funds a pilot; presenters requested state appropriation and described a $2,500 per-slot implementation cost and an estimated local shortfall of 200–400 licensed slots.
Wonderschool representatives on Aug. 19 urged the San Juan County Commission to support a state-funded pilot that would recruit, license and support new child-care providers in the county. "My name is Emily. I'm with a company called Wonderschool, and our focus is on increasing the supply of child care," Emily Walton told the commission.
The pitch framed child care as an economic-development issue: Matt Holton, who said he represents Wonderschool work in the region, told commissioners he and Wonderschool staff will work with state lawmakers to seek funding. "We are gonna be working with the representative this next session on getting some money for this community to try to move the needle a little bit," Holton said.
Nut graf: Commissioners heard that San Juan County has substantially fewer licensed child-care slots than needed for working families and that a targeted program to recruit and support local providers could create new openings quickly if state funding were allocated.
Wonderschool described its model as outreach plus business coaching. Walton said the group recruits potential providers, helps them through licensing and offers two years of business support to keep new operations viable. "We charge about $2,500 per slot that we create," Walton said, explaining that the fee covers outreach, licensing assistance and a two-year support cohort.
Wonderschool staff summarized county-level numbers used to justify a pilot. They said San Juan County had roughly 8,185 licensed slots on paper and that state data estimate about 600 children under age 6 live in working families locally, leaving an estimated shortage of roughly 200–400 slots. Walton said the program typically starts providers in home-based settings to reduce overhead, then helps successful operators expand to centers when demand warrants.
Commission discussion focused on outreach to the Navajo Nation, facility constraints and start-up capital. Walton acknowledged the complexity of on‑reservation licensing and said approaches vary by state and tribal jurisdiction. Walton and Holton described possible financing approaches — microloans, donated space, or community-backed center models — but did not promise specific funding sources. "Sometimes you'll have microloan agencies decide, we're gonna do low interest loans to people who are starting new child care businesses," Walton said.
No formal action was taken. Commissioners and presenters agreed to continue coordinating with state Representative Logan Monson, and Holton said he expects to work with Monson and other state officials to seek appropriations for a pilot. The commission did not commit county funds; presenters said the ask under discussion would be a state appropriation to pay Wonderschool to create slots.
Ending: Commissioners applauded the presentation and asked staff to remain engaged with Wonderschool and Rep. Monson as the group develops a formal proposal for the legislature.
