Royal Valley board approves rate increase for CLC program
Royal Valley’s before-and-after-school child care program for children in kindergarten through sixth grades, known as the Community Learning Center, offers district parents an affordable “drop-in child care” option, but it’s also operating “at a deficit,” members of the USD 337 Board of Education were told on Monday.
As a result, board members voted in favor of a proposal from CLC director Katie Petesch to raise the rates slightly to help keep the program economically viable for the district. District Superintendent John Rundle noted that the rate increase was the first time in at least four or five years granted to the CLC program, which provides supervisory care to students before and after school.
“Parents just pay on the days that their child is here, and it’s really helped out a lot of families,” Petesch said.
Rundle agreed, saying that the program helps parents who do not need to have their children in a care situation five days a week.
“There are a lot of parents who only need that one day, six or seven times a year,” he said.
During the past school year, parents paid $5 per child per day for CLC participation in the morning, from 7 a.m. to the start of the school day, $7 per child per day for care between the end of the school day and 6 p.m. and $11 for care at both ends of the day. The new rate raises the rates for afternoon care and for care at both ends of the day by $1, to $8 for afternooon care and to $12 for both morning and afternoon care; the base morning rate remained unchanged.
For summer care, the rate per child on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays is now $17 per day, and on Wednesdays and Fridays, when children in the program participate in “field trips,” the rate is $22 per day. “Day outs,” or full-day care during the school year on days when classes are cancelled due to teacher inservices or parent-teacher conferences, went from $16 to $20 per day.
Rundle told board members that during the 2014-15 school year, the program brought in more than $66,000 in revenues, but its expenses totaled more than $74,000 — a deficit of about $8,000. Petesch added that raising the rates according to her proposal could give the program an extra $11,000.
What’s important, board member Boone Smith said, is that the program is “operating in the black.” Rundle agreed, saying that even with the rate increase, the program is “still a bargain” for parents needing before and after-school child care.
The new rates were suggested after Petesch surveyed parents of children participating in the program and was told that those parents “would like to continue with our system and increase the rates just a little bit.” It was also noted that year-round, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, the program averages 30 to 35 children, and on Wednesdays and Fridays, the average participation is 35 to 40.
Petesch also said she tries to have two staff members available for every 15 participating children — well above “the state guideline” of one per 15 — because there are “a couple of high-needs” children in the program. The number of available staff members can also be adjusted to fit the number of participating children on any given day, she said.
The new rate takes effect on Aug. 19, board members noted.
In other business on Monday, board members:
• Approved minutes from the board’s June 8 meeting.
• Voted to begin the process of purchasing the district office and storage building, with the assistance of board attorney Michael Unrein. Rundle noted that the buyout on Sept. 1 would be $82,535.97; the board currently makes monthly payments of $2,263.28 on the building to Karla Grau, whose husband, the late Jim Grau, built the building.
• Approved a request from Jake Lott for use of a district bus to take students to a football camp in Rossville on Tuesday, June 30. Rundle said the team will cover related expenses.
• Met with Transportation and Athletic Director Jeff Gustin, High School Principal Jim Holloman, Middle School Principal John Linn and Elementary School Principal Noah Slay to discuss updates to student, parent, coaches, transportation and staff handbooks for the 2015-16 school year. Action on the handbooks will likely be taken in July, it was reported.
• Heard a proposal from Slay to change the format of elementary school report cards and parent-teacher conferences to a standards-based card that would provide “more purposeful communication” between parents and teachers. Board members asked Slay to continue exploring report card options and bring the request back for further discussion and possible action in August.
• Approved the early payment of Holton Special Education Cooperative funds for the 2015-16 school year.
• Approved the transfer of remaining funds from the 2014-15 school year to 2015-16 and closing the financial books for 2014-15. Rundle said the district had “just short of $100,000” to transfer, and the board approved the transfer $15,000 into the district’s contingency reserve fund with the remainder to be transferred to capital outlay after payment of all current bills.
• Noted that the meeting was the last for board member Rusty Douglas, who had served on the board for 20 years. Douglas was honored with a plaque and a brief reception.
• Accepted the resignations of Donald Keehn, Hoyt kitchen manager, and Justin Moore, assistant high school baseball coach.
• Met in executive session for 35 minutes to discuss teacher contract negotiations, with Rundle and Deputy Clerk Susan Pfrang present. No action resulted from the session.
• Adjourned the meeting at 9:40 p.m. All board members were present for the meeting, including Douglas, Smith, board president Linda Hegemann, Ann Kelly, Jim O’Toole, Jeff Stithem and Pat Tuck.