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Kids Club director says preschool, childcare serving 109 children with a 44‑child waitlist; board debates reducing employee discount
Summary
Paula Kiff told the board Kids Club and Rainbow Preschool currently serve 109 children from 90 families, maintain a waiting list of 44 children, and operate under a license renewed through April 2028; members discussed reducing a 50% employee discount and modest rate changes to reduce a reported ~$100,000 annual shortfall.
Paula Kiff ("miss Paula"), who runs the district's Kids Club and Rainbow Preschool programs, briefed the board on enrollment, staffing and finances. She said the program currently serves 90 families and 109 children and has 39 families (44 children) on a waiting list because room and staffing capacity are constrained.
"We currently are serving 90 families with a total of a 109 children," Kiff told the board. She described licensing limits (Room 3 licensed for 35; Room 6 for 23) and said the district's license was renewed through April 2028. Kiff outlined rates and registration fees: daycare first child $5/hour with a $45 registration fee; second child $4.50/hour; preschool tuition $120/month for three‑year‑olds and $175/month for four‑year‑olds. She also said staff retention is strong; the program reported 13 staff this year, including high‑school and college student workers.
Board members and administrators discussed options to reduce the district subsidy for the program. Cassie (district staff) told the board the program has run a roughly $100,000 loss annually in recent, non‑COVID years. Several members suggested trimming the employee discount (currently applied to 18 families) from 50% to 25% and adopting a minimum‑hour or no‑show charge for signups; a smaller, phased rate increase (50¢ per hour) was proposed for this year rather than a full $1/hour jump. The board discussed pursuing state child-care grants and DHHS subsidies for families as another route to close the gap.
Kiff and staff said they will survey families on price sensitivity, pursue grant opportunities (including possible state out‑of‑school time grants), and examine options to redeploy space or adjust billing increments to raise revenue. The board asked staff to return with specific revenue estimates showing how proposed discount and rate changes would affect the program's deficit before final budget action.
