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Kids Plus program seeks to standardize $50 registration fee as first step toward sustainability
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Summary
Kids Plus staff told the board Kids Plus is tuition‑funded, facing rising payroll costs and projected to draw about $300,000 from fund balance this year; staff proposed standardizing the annual registration fee at $50 per child (including for CCS employees) to recover about $14,000, with broader discount and rate recommendations planned for fall Phase 2.
Amber Diggins, who leads the district’s Kids Plus before‑and‑after school childcare program, told the Board on April 6 that enrollment has remained relatively stable while payroll costs have risen sharply — from about $2.6 million in 2023–24 to $3.5 million in 2025–26 — and that the program expects to rely on a nearly $300,000 draw from its fund balance this year. Kids Plus is 100% tuition funded, Diggins said, and the program currently employs about 80 staff and serves roughly 1,100 students annually.
To improve short‑term sustainability, Diggins proposed standardizing the registration fee at $50 per child per year for all families; current practice charges $50 for elementary, $25 for middle school, and waives the fee for Cabarrus County Schools employees (employees also receive a 35% tuition discount). Standardizing to $50 would recover an estimated $14,000 in annual revenue and simplify administration; staff said they would preserve employee enrollment priority but that employee discount policy would be evaluated in a later phase.
Board members asked whether employee discounts and current rates are driving the projected deficit; Diggins said employee discounts cost the program substantial revenue (approximately $327,000 in 2024–25) and that phase 2 recommendations on discounts and core rates will be brought to the board in September/October with outreach to families. Trustees decided to place the Phase 1 registration fee proposal on next week’s agenda as an action item so the public and stakeholders may comment at the regular meeting.
