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Kids First interested in AASD plan

Founder could provide staff if school enters day care business

Kids First day care founder and CEO Jackie Clouser is interested in continuing to provide staff to the Altoona Area School District if it decides to venture into the day care business.

“If the district is to bring the child care program in-house, Kids First would absolutely be interested in continuing to provide the staffing service so that we can continue our work with local children and families,” Clouser wrote in an email.

“Many of the school-age children have been with us since they were infants, and they are like family. Having the district take responsibility for the management of the program would relieve Kids First of the significant administrative burdens related to the program’s regulatory compliance, licensing and accreditation.”

The Altoona Area School Board projects that taking on the duty of running a day care could yield $685,500 per year for the district.

School board President John Donley in September made a motion to task the administration with investigating the business opportunity of running the day care instead of leasing school rooms before and after school to Kids First.

A majority of the board supported doing the research. Ron Johnston said he voted against it because there were too many “what ifs” including finding staffing and protocol for weather cancellations.

Last Monday, the district administration came back to the board to say opening a day care could yield $685,500 per year for the district after expenses.

However, Clouser disagrees with that revenue estimate.

“Kids First currently has 168 school-age children enrolled, but many are less than five days per week,” Clouser said. “We have an average of 145 children attending the morning and afternoon sessions daily, not 350.”

“With the proposed rate of $45 per session for the morning session and $45 for the afternoon session by 40 weeks, the calculated revenue would be $520,920,” she said.

Superintendent Charles Prijatelj said he agrees to disagree with Clouser on that point.

“She might think our profit margins aren’t that good, but we can agree to disagree,” Prijatelj said.

He said the administration calculated revenue estimates based on 350 children in both morning and afternoon day care sessions daily.

“We are looking to expand our child care program in ways she can’t. By leveraging our ability to provide transportation and additional spaces in our buildings, we have the ability to look at bigger numbers. But if we don’t get 350 children, profits will fall tremendously,” Prijatelj said.

He said currently there is a wait list for the day care program that can be eliminated if the district operates it because it has the ability to provide transportation.

Netting any significant revenue annually is possible only if the district can contract employees through an external service, similar to the way schools outsource substitute teaching jobs.

“If Kids First would be willing to be the sourcer, I have no problem with that. We are more than willing to welcome those discussions,” Prijatelj said.

He stressed that the district has no issues with the quality of Lily Pond or Kids First.

The exploration of providing in-house day care is solely motivated around generating revenue for the district, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O’Reilly is at 946-7435.

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