Okay. So I started this director job on Monday for this small daycare. I knew going into it it would be a lot of work and very stressful. I am just over everything as of now. The first day I started a girl was missing. Yesterday, the girl was on her phone all day. Today, she calls to say she will be late but doesn't show up. Also, the only other teacher we have said that we would be out for the next three days. The owner and I have been the only ones taking care of the whole place. We only have 11 kids but still I can't get done with my paperwork because I have to be in a classroom. Oh, did I mention that the books and the office is a mess. I have no idea where anything is at. There are no soap or bleach bottles. There are no gloves to change diapers or soap or paper towels to wash hands with. The changing table is located at the front of the building in a bathroom. So you have to take all of the kids up front just to change diapers. I am going crazy and all I want to do is cry. Please some one give me advice on how to handle all of this.

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Quit and start your own home daycare! I worked in a center for 3 years....the first 2 were good but when the owner sold the last year, I was OUT OF THERE! Plus, I would hate hiring persons today for the same reasons as your workers....for some reason, persons do not feel responsible/accountable anymore! I just don't get it!

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well for starters....hire some new people.

For seconds....bust butt this weekend to get things in shape.

For thirds....go home tonight and have a nice drink. sounds like you need it!

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Thanks ladies. I am so going to stop and get me something to drink tonight. I am going to take a bunch of stuff home tonight and try to work on it. I have posted ads that we are hiring so I am hoping to find some new and great people. I wish I could start my own home daycare. The only problem is that I live in a camper. Long story short my husband and I gave up everything for his job and brought it. We moved and he got laid off after a month. Needless to say after 6 months still no job. So it is cheap for us to live in it while I work. I don't even make the greatest to make up for all of this stress.

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I would schedule a mandatory staff meeting to talk about expectations and responsibilities. I'd make it clear that if they want to keep their jobs, they need to clean up their act.

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Ok the first girl... write her up. I would also put her on a performance improvement plan saying that one more violation she is terminated. Second I would advertise for a teacher. If you find someone great, if you find two someones find out if they would be willing to be a sub until a position opens up. When I tool over as director at my center the accounts were a mess and it took me nearly two weeks to get them in order so I would plan on staying late at work when no one else is there to organize the office. Next thing I would think of doing would be to close in a few weeks (maybe July 3) for a "staff training day". Most parents will be able to work the closing into their schedules if given enough notice. During your "training" law down the law and maybe think about reorganizing your center so it better fits your needs. Good Luck and things will get better.

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Staff is meeting is a must that is going to happen next week when the girl that is gone will be back. I have already posted about job openings. The only thing is the pay sucks at $7.50 an hour. We can not get good teachers in for that amount. But the owners don't want to rise the pay rate unless they have a degree which isn't a whole lot more. You really don't want to know what I make. I wish we could close down for a day for staff training and such but the owners is not going to like that. They are in it for the money. They only opened the center to have money for the church and put money in their pockets. Like I said, we dont have half of the things that we really need. I was told to make a list and they would get it if it was in the budget. Ugh. Which would be never. We dont even have a playground. I have been taking stuff home for me to work on cause I dont get time to at work because I have to play teacher. The owners wont let me stay late because they would have to pay me more. And of course they dont want to do that.

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Ok then my next idea would be to contact your local community college child development program, see if you can advertise there. Students who don't have as much experience are more willing to take $7.50 so that they can use you on their resumes. You might have to get 2 as they will probably work part time schedules so they can finish classes. I don't know how it is in your state but in California, a person can be considered a teacher as long as the have 6 units and are enrolled in the other 6. I would also start thinking about fundraisers to get your playground. You only have 11 students? What's your capacity? I would sit down with the owners and see if they would allow you in increase wages once capacity is 90% or something. I have only been the director here since Oct and I have learned a lot but I still feel every day like I don't know what I am doing. I believe you are hardly making anything because I am hardly making anything, I get it. If you want to chat more you can pm me, maybe we can help each other out.

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I never thought of that. I will talk with my professors and see what they think. And see if they can lead me in the right direction. They have been so helpful so far. I only have three more semesters left and I will have a two year degree in Early Childhood. You do not have to have anything that I know of to be a daycare teacher in Kentucky. You just have to have 15 training hours a year from hire date to hire date. That is a great ideal we need a playground really bad. I know a contractor and I am hoping that he will do a fence for free or low cost if we have a sign up saying that he put it up. I thought about contacting other local people to see if they would donate their services for a sign as well. We have talked about pay raises once we get more children. We can only have 39 children. Well 20 right now because we have a gross motor area where the owners are wanting to put in classrooms. When we get a playground we will be able to have 40. But if we have 40 then the owners will have to put in a fire alarm system. Which of course they dont want to do. I make 8.75 an hour. I was talking to one of my husband cousins about my job before I started. She was like you should make like 20 an hour for all of that. I am like I wish I could make that much. lol. I will send you a friend request.

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Some of those you mentioned not having are required by regulations in California, I'm not sure about your state, but I'm guessing that they are too. The owner NEEDS to provide some of these things, and make sure they are restocked regularly. If you have an inspection you could get in trouble, and potentially loose clients you already have.
If you are doing teacher and director work.. aka subing for them when they are gone, perhaps you can get the teacher pay for the day, and also have some hours allocated to do your director job. It would be the same on the budget as if they showed up like they were supposed to.

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I have told the owners and they know what we need. They fail to provide these things. I am going to have to keep on to them about it all though. They are only going to get the things that we need if have money for it. I believe that we should have everything that we need no matter to be able to run a great and well working daycare center.

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I agree with you! This might be the biggest complaint from center employees ever! When I worked in a center, many things were my own because owners spend the bare minimum....

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I don't like when owners don't spend money like they should. More so going into a little three classroom center. I would love to own a center like that. If it is set up the right way parents would love it because of the size and the teachers. I have taught in highly rated centers and then came to this one to get the experience as a director. I love my highly rated centers. The children were so much better off at places like that because money was put into things that the teachers and the children need.

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Seriously, I'd give licensing a call about those things. If they won't provide the basic supplies for washing hands then they need to be reported. Obviously because that's disgusting, but also to get the ball rolling. I'm sure you don't need to let licensing know who you are or that you're even an employee... just tell them it's something you noticed when you were in the building.

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I would also consider the fact that they are a business, and should be able to write off a lot of expenses on taxes as well as, they can find grants. They just have to take the time to apply for them.

Hopefully, things improve.

And yuck on no cleaning supplies or gloves!

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I am going to talk to a lady at child care aware today and see what she says. Hopefully good things happen soon.

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Being the director is almost like being the owner of the business. YOU are the one making sure that EVERYTHING gets done. I was the manager of a hotel once, (had only worked in a hotel for 2 weeks of my life as a front desk clerk!) I had NEVER been a manager of a hotel! I knew that I COULD do the job, but that I definitely needed ALOT of on the job training and time after my regular shift to teach myself what I needed to know and get myself acclimated to my new job.

If I were to start a new job as a director in a center. I would plan to work all day and probably until late evening after the daycare closes. This gives you time to do your job during the day, meeting the parents, interacting with the kids, covering for staff that doesn't come to work, etc. Then in the evening, AFTER the daycare closes, sit in your office and organize your office the way you want it to be, teach yourself things that you need to know, go through the building and see if you want to make changes, go through the kids' records and familiarize yourself with them and their parents' names, go through the parents' payment records to everyone's typical payment history, etc.

Basically, do the interacting with people part of your job and staff covered part of your job during the day and the immediate paperwork that you have to do on the spot during the day. Then at night, teach yourself your job, get acclimated to your job, and organize the company.

After a couple of weeks of this, you should have everything figured out, organized, and be comfortable with your new job.

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Seriously.


And why was the missing girl not fired?

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I understand where all of you are coming from. The owners will not pay me or allow me to stay late. I work all day in the classrooms and then take my work home to do it there. I spent all weekend typing out new handbooks among other things for work. I am doing the best that I can with what I got to work with. I have been buying items that I need out of my pocket. The two girls where not fired because the owners want to keep them. I have been pushing to fire them. I have to take my orders from the owners. What they say goes pretty much. They are kinda allowing me to do my job but time will tell if they trust me enough to allow me to fire people and etc.

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Is this your first gig as a Director? What you described so far is appalling. I am also a small center director, and with all the things you have listed......there is NO EXCUSE for not having paper towels and soap. You are working of the clock without compensation? That's illegal. You are either in control of operations like hiring, firing, ordering supplies, doing training, etc, or you're not. If not, abandon ship and get a new job.
Does your state regulations require outside time? And there is no playground? Do you take them outside at all? No regulations about changing tables being located so teachers can still see and hear the group while changing a diaper? No regulations about washing hands? How do you wash hands without soap? No regulations about sanitizing surfaces?

Do I seem angry? Well, I am! Not at you Ms.Banks, not at all, at these owners!! This is what gives centers a bad reputation. I am a very big advocate of small centers, and I get pretty steamed hearing junk like "minimum wage only, no staff meetings, no paper towels, no gloves." THEY CAN'T IGNORE STATE REGULATIONS!

And this center is connected to a church? Do these owners drive a Mercedes? Or Jaguar? Guess what, I drive a Mercedes too, but my center gets EVERY SINGLE PENNY IT NEEDS FIRST. And my center gets all the attention, maintenance and new furnishings before my regular house does too. My blood is boiling right now.

You can private message me anytime for support. Your issues are sooooo deep and wide I can't begin to address them all.

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