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Parents, provider urge Mount Diablo Unified to approve Diana Dare expansion at Bancroft
Summary
Parents and Diana Dare leaders urged the Mount Diablo Unified board to prioritize an expansion of Diana Dare childcare at Bancroft Elementary, saying campus enrollment has grown about 30% and the program has an empty modular building ready and claims it would expand at no cost to the district.
Parents and the site director of Diana Dare told the Mount Diablo Unified School District board on Jan. 14 that Bancroft Elementary urgently needs expanded childcare capacity. Dave Bellman, a Bancroft parent and longtime educator, said Bancroft has added "more than a 160 students, roughly a 30% increase" over the past decade and that the Diana Dare childcare program’s current capacity cannot meet families’ needs.
"The wait list is enormous," Bellman said, urging district staff to expedite a facilities review already underway and to prioritize moving an identified modular building onto the Bancroft campus. He described concrete harms: parents reducing work hours or leaving jobs because they cannot secure care for younger children.
Suzanne Leibowitz, a Bancroft and Diana Dare parent, described the program as a longtime community resource that supports working parents and provides summer programming comparable to camp. She said Diana Dare’s staffing and program quality warrant district support for expansion.
Stephanie Lee, who identified herself as the Diana Dare site director at Bancroft, used her public comment time to provide program context and to request clearer communication from the district. Lee said the program has repeatedly requested expansion, that facilities staff previously reviewed site plans and did not identify fire‑lane restrictions, and that an unused modular unit is available for relocation. "To be clear, this expansion will be fully funded by Diana Dare. There is 0 cost to the district," Lee said, and asked who in educational services is responsible for approval and what the timeline will be.
Board members and staff did not take an immediate vote on the request. At the meeting’s end a trustee asked that the board schedule a future presentation and discussion on aftercare programs, including Bancroft’s request, so the board and staff can address property constraints, financing and program delivery.
Next steps: Diana Dare’s request has moved into the district review process (facilities and educational services), and trustees requested a future meeting agenda item on aftercare programs for broader discussion and possible direction to staff.
