Daycare is Charging Me for Hours He's in Preschool?

[nikkimcc]

Our daycare lady has us update our records every year, sign a new policy etc. Well there are a few updates to the policy and one of them is a preschool "status".

Let me explain...there is Full time status, where you guarantee her 27 hours/week, and have to pay her for certain holidays and a few personal days a year. If you only get 20 hours in in a week, you still pay her for 27. Then tehre is Part time/drop in status, where you don't guarantee any certain # of hours, but you pay a little more per hour and don't have to pay for any holidays/personal days.

WELL...now there is a new "preschool status"...It says children in preschool will be charged for the ENTIRE DAY. CAN she legally do that? My son will start preschool in September...it's almost like she put that in there JUST because I mentioned preschool. Mon-THurs he'll be in preschool from 8-11:30 am, and at daycare from 11:30 until 4:30pm. On friday theres no preschool so he'll be at daycare all day.

Its a total of 14 or so hours a week that I'll have to pay her for when he is in preschool. So should I be mad...or should I be nice about it. I haven't signed the new contract yet, not till I talk to her.

Shouldn't I have the choice of what status i want him to be? What if I only worked M-T afternoons and all day friday so he was home with ME M-Th mornings...I'd be able to have him Full time then. Does that make sense? Why should it matter WHERE he is mon-thurs morning, as long as he still gets in FT hours?

My husband has been picking our son up early and staying home with him somedays recently, (but he's still been getting his FT hours in) so maybe she figured that between preschool and my husband being able to be with our son some days, that I'd drop him to PT status and she'd lose out on a bunch of hours? My husband farms so the fact that he is able to pick him up early and such is only temporary, as harvest is just around the corner. She knows this because her husband also farms.

Maybe I should find a different daycare...

[Unregistered]

Maybe someone else here has a better answer but I would think that if she has a private business then she can set her own terms within reason. If you sign the document then she charges as she states. You did not say what state you were in. I think that if she needs to be licensed then you should call your state's licensing agency and inquire. Here is a map that has agency phone numbers.

http://www.daycare.com/states.html

Perhaps she is limited by what she can charge. I read a lot on the internet about upset parents that get charged by the daycare no matter what the circumstance or hardship. I think there should be a national "daycare bill of rights" for parents. Many are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[Unregistered]

We are limited on how many children we can have in care. My rates are not based on hours. You are reserving that spot for your child. I have to have that spot avaliable when your child gets out of school, on non school days, snow days, fog delays, and other days schools close. When children are in school all day everday, I do offer a before/after school rate. BUT, your child does not have a guarenteed spot for the days listed above. You are only guarenteed the time you are paying for.
I know this may seem unfair, but would you go to work everyday and not know if you are getting paid for 2 hours or 8?

[Kathy]

Good point "Unregistered"

[Unregistered]

Perhaps she is limited by what she can charge. I read a lot on the internet about upset parents that get charged by the daycare no matter what the circumstance or hardship. I think there should be a national "daycare bill of rights" for parents. Many are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I reserve that to my own judgement.
Why is it a parent is so quick to pay such high interest rates on a credit card, but can't stand the thought of paying for their child's care? No matter what rock and hard spot, they still use their electricity at home, and pay their full bill. Why? Because they don't want to sit in the dark with nothing to do, that's why. Why would that be more important that the care of their child? A provider running a business to care for children has a very important role. If you had no child care, you would not be able to keep your job, right? If you don't have electricity, it still doesn't effect whether or not you can work (battery alarm clocks, I have one!)
I work hard to see to it that the children in my care are taken the best care of. I go to school to learn more so that I can better care for your children. I spend unpaid hours planning and setting up activities, so your child gets the best care. I kiss their boo-boos for you, I wipe their snotty noses (when they should be at home drinking chicken noodle soup), I love the children in my care and take the best care of them I can possibly do. It is the most thankless job. Parents and guardians are always trying to look for reasons not to pay a flat rate reguardless the policy they have signed (which, BTW is a legal document that will hold up in court). Some parents just don't get it. You are paying for the availability of child care with knowledge of holidays closed, etc. You know, there are special things I do for children in my care (and others do this as well) that doesn't even get mentioned. Personally, I open my doors for an extended 3 hours on the 2 Fridays after Th.giving free, so parents can have that time to secretly shop. I also give 1 free week per year for 1 child on their enrollment anniversary. No. I don't have to do this, and I don't even mention it in my policies. It is a gift I give. I have never received a thank you, in fact, when 1 child received all that, plus 1 week free as a Christmas gift, it wasn't a month later, that they took a vacation for 1 week, came back, and refused to pay for the week their child was out because they chose to take a vacation. Do you know, I did not take a vacation that year because I wanted to be considered reliable and I didn't have a back up provider. I bet you are a parent that would do the same thing as this parent, aren't you. Completely ungrateful. You don't even realize what all is involved in being a child care provider. Most people will say, "It takes someone special to care for children. I couldn't do it." We are completely underpaid, and most parents are ungrateful for the services. Always looking to complain, and never thankful!

[NLB]

I am a provider.

I would charge you a half day, because I assume that you are not dropping him off in the mornings before school.

I assume you are dropping him off at Daycare after pre-school at 11:30-11:45-ish.

As long as I didn't have to serve your child a lunch, I would consider that a half day. Especially if I could fill his AM spot with another child.

NOW, if she is responsible to pick him up at Pre-school and then feed him lunch, that IS a full day. In fact it's more work than if he just came over in the mornings and was there the whole day.

If she is taking him TO and FROM school, you should give her a raise.

[Unregistered]

Being that a provider only has so many spots, each spot is worth so many dollars. I have been a provider for over 8 years, I charge whether the child is here or not, vacations, holidays, sick days included. I do have a maternity/sick leave policy and I will hold the families spot for a fee. I agree, you would not go to work not knowing if you will be working 4 or 8 hours each day. If you work ft, you are guaranteed 40 hours. We are doing nothing but asking the same.

DC Providers get no benefits. We pay our own taxes, have weekly expenses. I sure wish the $80 I get on Friday for caring for a child ft was free and clear money, but it isn't. I pay insurance, food, utilities, misc supplies, preschool supplies, taxes and the list goes on of what comes out of that $80 when I get it.

I currently have a 3 yr old that goes to a "real" preschool and is gone 2.25 hours 2 mornings a week. They still have to pay for that time. It is not realistic for the family to think I should deduct that time. There is no way I could fill that spot for that time perior. Plus, I am getting your child ready to go to preschool, wait for him to return, etc. When you put your child in daycare you are paying for the spot...not the hours they are there.

As a provider, there is no way I can fund a daycare and make a income offering pt spots.

[Unregistered]

We are limited on how many children we can have in care. My rates are not based on hours. You are reserving that spot for your child. I have to have that spot avaliable when your child gets out of school, on non school days, snow days, fog delays, and other days schools close. When children are in school all day everday, I do offer a before/after school rate. BUT, your child does not have a guarenteed spot for the days listed above. You are only guarenteed the time you are paying for.
I know this may seem unfair, but would you go to work everyday and not know if you are getting paid for 2 hours or 8?




thumbs up!!!
another point - if you don't use your phone today, should you get a reduction in the rate?
if you don't watch tv today, should the cable company give you a credit?

if the provider is there, open, ready to go on a scheduled day - they SHOULD get paid.

hey parents, if you'll check around, you'll find that the providers that DON'T follow this policy are usually overcrowded, have inferior staffing, and don't offer much in the way of structure or enrichment for your child.
just like everything else in life - you get what you pay for.

[AC23]

I am going to have to agree with the people that stated you are paying for a slot and not just the time. Like brought up before about delays or days off froms school? Where is your child going to go on those days? Most likely to this provider. What about spring break or Christmas break? Those are things to consider. I know my kids seem to have a lot days off during the year and when school goes to a 1/2 day sure start and preschool is usually canceled completely for those days.

It does seem a bit unfair but you should try looking at it from your provider;s side. Or even inquire why payment is billed that way. I am sure your provider would rather you talk to him or her about this vs. you stewing over this. If you really don't think this is acceptable maybe trying checking out other providers or centers and see how they would work with you.

[crazycat97306]

As a provider I personally charge full time rates for preschool and kindergarden. They are usually only about 2 1/2 hours long and have a lot more days off of school than after they start 1st grade. (at least in Oregon they have more days off)

[pingaa3]

I took my daughter to preschool for one month and paid as much for 4 hours as I now charge for an entire day. The ratio was 30+ children to 3 staff and my child was asleep most of the time.

You are paying for the slot. Unless your provider can get another child to come in the other half of the day, your child takes up that slot for the entire day. Why would your provider take less money for that slot if they can get a full time child in there?

pingaa3

[Unregistered]

Yes, it's her business she can do what she wants-on the other hand, you are the parents and you can do what you want. My contract goes by hours if a child attends a different preschool-weekly-24 hrs IS full-time-and I'm a preschool, so I don't have this-you have to be happy with her-or else-yes find a new one-she isn't doing anything wrong -- you are taking up a full time spot so you have to pay-find someone who will go PT for you- :-)