Price has been a key concern for parents who use the program. It has drawn anywhere from 250 to 500 students a week, Inskeep has said.
“We have been working for several months with the YMCA to finalize details on a program that will not only provide a safe, comprehensive childcare program to our families, but will also allow any current KCS childcare staff member who chooses to do so to remain with the program, without any loss in the pay or benefits they are currently receiving,” Inskeep said in a released statement.
The YMCA will also offer several flat-rate options that may reduce the amount some families are paying, Inskeep said. The YMCA operates a publicly funded program, which may make some families eligible for financial aid to cover costs, he added.
A weekly flat rate for the morning would be $40, $60 for the afternoon or $90 for a full-time combination, the proposal states.
The plan expected to be addressed at the Kettering board of education meeting tonight includes the YMCA providing before- and after-school services in Kettering school facilities, Joshua Sullenberger, senior vice president of operations for the YMCA of Greater Dayton, said in an email.
Sullenberger said the Y has similar deals with several area districts, Huber Heights, Miamisburg and Springboro, among them.
Kettering’s agreement would run from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2025, records show.
The program would run from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, YMCA documents state.
It would be available at all elementary schools while Kettering Middle School and Van Buren Middle School sixth-graders would be housed at Indian Riffle and Orchard Park elementaries, respectively.
The sixth-graders would be taken by the YMCA to and from school, records show.
Concern about the cost of a switch prompted some parents last year to start an online petition signed by more than 350 people. The petition stated a proposed change would significantly increase the price of the program and be “crippling to the families.”
Inskeep said staff shortages prompted the district to consider contracting with a business or the YMCA.
The longtime Kettering program has had about 24 to 26 employees when fully staffed, but those numbers had dropped to the low teens in December, Inskeep told the Dayton Daily News.
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