Arlington ISD presents employee-childcare proposal to help recruit and retain staff; estimated $10M in facility costs

Superintendent Smith introduced an exploratory report on a potential employee-childcare benefit, presented by Scott Kale and Holly Stambaugh from HR.

Stambaugh said the program would serve Arlington ISD employees’ children ages 6 weeks to 3 years using existing campus facilities to reduce facility costs. She recommended site options including Sherrod Elementary (smaller, ~45 children) and a Hale/Beckham option (larger, ~80+ children) and noted licensing requirements that drive class-size and staffing ratios for infants and toddlers.

Staffing and start-up costs were outlined: an estimated project renovation and supplies cost "a little over $10,000,000" (reported in partnership with facilities and an architect), pre‑opening staffing and training costs of about $300,000, and annual staff costs of approximately $860,000. Stambaugh reported a conservative revenue projection of about $1,100,000 annually (based on a target price of roughly $900/month for infants and $850/month for 1–3 year olds), which she said would yield an initial net annual revenue estimate near $253,000 after staff costs.

Trustees discussed rollout options, including opening one smaller site and one larger site initially, the potential to reduce rates to increase take-up, and whether bond funds (board approval required) could be used for the facilities component while personnel costs would be funded separately. Trustee McMorrow and others spoke in favor of pursuing the concept to support recruitment and retention.

District leaders emphasized this was a report and no board action was requested that night; they asked trustees for feedback before potential future proposals that would require board approval for bond funding or program launch.