Some Fort Worth parents struggle to pay for daycare after coronavirus school closures
The coronavirus pandemic has created financial challenges for working parents seeking childcare because of school closures, while also causing uncertainty about the future for daycare centers and their employees.
For parents who cannot work from home, providing extra childcare due to school closures is an unexpected financial burden that could put them in debt. Daycare centers also face economic hardship as enrollment plummets at some facilities, and many owners fear the government could shut them down, leaving employees without a paycheck.
“My kids are suffering not being able to do any activities, and I’m worried soon I will be financially struggling and end up in a debt hole,” Ashleigh Driscoll, a Fort Worth single mom with two kids, said.
Some states, such as Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, ordered daycares to shut down. In Pennsylvania, centers can request waivers to remain open for the children of essential personnel, such as first responders and health care workers.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Thursday closing schools, banning social gatherings of more than 10 people and prohibiting dining-in at restaurants and bars. The order made no reference to daycares.
“You could get an email any minute saying, ‘All child care centers closed,’ ” Cindy Greazes, owner of Angel Montessori daycare in Fort Worth, said. “As a business owner, that’s really hard.”
Greazes, who also described herself as the current “nurse and doctor and infectious disease control expert” at the daycare in Ryan Place, said enrollment is down 90% from usual. As of Tuesday, about 23 kids were dropped off at the building.
The daycare is following CDC guidelines to keep kids safe, including taking staff and kids’ temperatures each day and trying to keep kids separate from each other, which is not easy.
“It’s a little difficult to tell a 2-year-old that you have to stay six feet away from your friend,” Greazes said.
Struggle for working parents
Fort Worth Independent School District, and schools across the state are closed at least through April 3 under the governor’s order, and some parents who are still working find themselves with an unexpected bill for someone to watch their kids.
Driscoll has a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old at home and is still going to work as a certified medical assistant. Her 6-year-old attends a Fort Worth public school, and she had to take money from her savings to send him to daycare at $200 a week.
“I had some savings, but that doesn’t last long when this much is coming out every week, on top of extra groceries,” she said.
Some daycares also shut down, such as Head Start campuses in Tarrant County, which will be closed until at least March 27 due to COVID-19.
Joycelyn Brooks owns Tonae’s Learning child care center in south Fort Worth. She said many of the daycare’s parents work in the service or healthcare industries, and she wanted to stay open for them.
“They have nobody else to watch their children,” she said.
Russ Arnold, executive director at The Children’s Academy/Country Club Montessori School in Mansfield, said many of the parents who use the Children’s Academy live paycheck to paycheck and cannot take paid time off.
“Until the government decides what they’re going to do as far as supplementing people and salaries, we really feel we have an obligation to our parents — if at all possible and we can keep things safe — that we keep our doors open,” he said.
While some daycares were dealing with a drastic drop in attendance, others had to turn parents away because they were at capacity.
Cheryl Paige, director of Tot’s Haven in Fort Worth near Como, said she’s had many parents call to ask if she had any open spots. The center takes about 50 children and had 45 kids on Tuesday, she said.
“I haven’t had parents ask me about the cost,” Paige said. “They wanna know about space.”
Financial impact for daycares
While Texas has not ordered child care centers to close, some owners feel it is inevitable and worry about the financial repercussions of a shut down.
“I‘m concerned that eventually, if there is a case in one of the centers, they will close the centers,” Brooks, of Tonae’s Learning, said. “But I’m just making sure I’m taking precautions here to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
On Monday, Texas implemented new requirements for child care centers to protect children from coronavirus exposure. Brooks said she follows those guidelines, such as not allowing parents to come into the building.
Staff at Tonae’s Learning were already feeling the financial strain caused by COVID-19, Brooks said. The center usually has five staff members for about 50 kids, but Brooks sent some of those employees home when only 25 children were at the daycare Tuesday.
Greazes, of Angel Montessori, said she hopes the state government will help workers who cannot afford to go weeks without a paycheck.
“I have a lot of employees very concerned,” Greazes said. “They’re hourly paid employees. They’re concerned what’s going to happen financially and long term.”
On March 11, 39 child care groups signed a letter to Congress asking for “significant and flexible emergency funding” to help child care centers “weather this growing public health and economic crisis, and preserve the nation’s supply of family child care and community-based child care programs.”
Many states are weighing the impact of closing daycare centers because health care workers and other needed professionals still need somewhere to take their kids.
“Everything right now is completely not in our control,” Greazes said. “So everyone is a little bit stressed.”
Arnold, of The Children’s Academy/Country Club Montessori School, was also concerned about employees, and said they’re going to try and protect them financially as long as possible.
Arnold said a parent emailed the center and said the family would keep their child at home for the next two weeks, but wanted to continue paying for childcare, even if the center shut down, so that employees could get paid.
“Those are the kinds of families we have,” Arnold said. “They understand that these teachers really work very, very hard to help them raise their children, and they appreciate it.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
