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Inskeep apologized during a special meeting with parents and workers Monday night for not taking their concerns into consideration sooner. He said the program would be maintained for the next school year, but the cost to parents would increase.
“The input of our parents, and evaluating the costs…we realized we needed to make an increase. We did that and it’s been resoundingly supported by them,” Inskeep said.
“It felt good that we listened to our people and respected them. That was important.”
RELATED: Kettering schools could eliminate after-school program, 20 positions
The district offers a before-and-after school program for parents with children in elementary school. Parents pay $5 per hour per child for the services, which allows the child to stay at the school with a child care provider, until picked up by a guardian.
Next year, parents will pay $7 per hour, per child. The $2 increase is designed to help hire additional staff needed for the program, as well as health care costs for staff members, according to Inskeep.
Under the potential arrangement with the YMCA, parents using the service would pay a flat weekly rate of $87 per child. Not all parents would have been using the services enough to justify the proposed rate.
John Miller, a Kettering parent, said had the district continued with the YMCA plan, his costs would have risen from $200 per month, to between $600 and $700 per month.
“This was a stressful situation when the letter came out last month,” Miller said.
Miller, who uses the services for his two sons at Orchard Park Elementary, said a $2 increase was a “fairly reasonable amount,” considering the alternatives.
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The services offered by Kettering Schools have been offered for at least 15 years, Inskeep said.
The district’s decision to look for a different child care provider for families was to be “more in line” with other providers in the area, Inskeep said last month. Other factors, like cost and management, contributed to the district looking in a different direction.
The move would have eliminated 20 jobs in the district.
With the proposed changes, the district will re-evaluate the program next year to determine whether they will continue to operate under the new pricing, or if a move to another child care provider is necessary.
Using this situation as a learning experience, Inskeep said he would send information to parents prior to any kinds of conversations that could impact them or employees.
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