Cleveland-area childcare centers, parents grapple with tough choices amid coronavirus-borne uncertainty

Teachers at the Centers, a nonprofit that oversees childcare sites in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs, bundled educational materials and other resources for families to take home after the organization announced plans to close its early-childhood programs and suspend home visits through April 3.

Teachers at the Centers, a nonprofit that oversees childcare sites in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs, bundled educational materials and other resources for families to take home after the organization announced plans to close its early-childhood programs and suspend home visits through April 3.Courtesy of The Centers

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Attendance was anemic Monday at Le Chaperon Rouge’s childcare centers across Northeast Ohio.

The previous week, some parents started keeping their children home amid rising fears about the spread of the novel coronavirus. But absences skyrocketed after Gov. Mike DeWine pleaded with parents Sunday to remove their children from centers, if possible. The governor said that state-mandated daycare closures are coming – though it’s unclear when.

That uncertainty has parents and childcare professionals grappling with deep unease and frustration, as they try to process the logistical and financial fallout from a pandemic.

“It’s horrific,” said Stella Moga-Kennedy, the owner of Le Chaperon Rouge, which serves 1,300 children at a dozen suburban locations and employs 250 people. “We are not closing because the governor did not tell us to close, and we have many parents very concerned that we are not closing – but, also, the majority that are thanking us that we are not closing.”

Sweet Kiddles, a locally owned group of five childcare centers with flexible schedules and pay-as-you-go tuition, implemented curbside drop-off and pickup and stopped allowing infant car-seat carriers and strollers inside. On Monday, traffic to the centers, which serve more than 1,000 families in Cleveland and the suburbs, was down by 90%.

“We’re a tough industry to begin with,” owner Andrea Kimmel said. “And to go through this, I don’t know how we’re going to make it to the other side.”

As childcare operators weighed whether to close and, in some cases, decided to shutter on their own rather than waiting on the state, parents struggled to adapt.

Kate, a mother and logistics manager who lives in North Olmsted, spent Monday trying to work from home with her 2-year-old daughter by her side. The family’s childcare center, in Rocky River, closed Friday and will be offline until at least April 6.

Now Kate, who asked only to be identified by her first name, is juggling what feels like two full-time jobs. “I felt guilty,” she said Monday evening. “I had to spend eight hours on my computer. She really sat and looked at the iPad or watched TV all day.”

She’s reluctant to ask her parents, in their late 60s, for help that might put their health at risk. And though she’s grateful that she doesn’t have to pay for childcare – roughly $70 a day – during the closure, she’s worried, based on a letter she received, that the center will charge higher prices once it reopens to make up for the lost time and income.

In interviews and conversations on social media, parents – mothers, mainly – agonized over what to do and how to handle the cost of care.

By pulling their children out before the state makes a move, they worried, they might risk losing highly sought-after spots, particularly for infants and toddlers. They argued about whether it’s fair for childcare providers to keep charging tuition if parents heed the governor’s call and keep their children home during a public-health crisis.

Early Childhood Enrichment Center

Children explore and learn at the Early Childhood Enrichment Center in Shaker Heights in 2016. The nonprofit childcare center closed its doors Monday, starting a three-week hiatus for the safety of its families and staff.Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer

Jackie, a mother in Seven Hills, dropped off her young daughter Monday for her first day at the Goddard School in Independence. Midway through the day, the family received an email reassurance that the center, part of a national franchised system, isn’t planning to close.

But if parents pull their children out, or the state orders a shutdown, Goddard expects to charge tuition to cover teachers’ salaries and health insurance, according to the email. The school said it is working with the federal government, its corporate office and other parties to figure out a plan “that is fair and feasible to address tuition concerns” in the event of a closure.

Jackie, who asked only to be identified by her first name, was flummoxed.

Her toddler’s previous daycare, a small Christian center, closed Friday due to financial problems unrelated to coronavirus. Jackie had frantically searched for a new provider and was glad to find Goddard. Now, in so many ways, she feels like the world has turned upside down.

And the traditional rules at so many daycare centers – that you pay whether your child attends or not, is ill or on vacation – seem like they shouldn’t apply if there’s a shutdown.

“I’m afraid to disenroll her because it’s a great place,” Jackie said. “I risk losing her spot. You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.”

At Le Chaperon Rouge, Moga-Kennedy is waiting for guidance from the state. She has talked to her bank about taking out a line of credit to pay teachers, if necessary. She’s stocked up on food – and Lysol. Her centers have stopped allowing visitors or accepting new children.

“This is so, so nonsense,” she said of the state’s approach so far. “Tell me, close down. But don’t tell … that parents should make arrangements to have children somewhere else. Then the parents are trying to make arrangements and, if they don’t come, they don’t give us tuition. How can I even charge? And then we are in a predicament, that we cannot provide payroll.”

Centers have started taking every child’s temperature upon arrival. They’ve become more aggressive about sending children home, even for the most innocuous of runny noses. State regulators have lifted some restrictions on licensed facilities, allowing more paid absences for children who rely on childcare subsidies and raising child-to-staff ratios – a move that some center operators said is counterproductive, since it crowds more children together.

Early Childhood Enrichment Center

A child uses a pointer and a calendar to learn the days of the week and numbers at the Early Childhood Enrichment Center in Shaker Heights in 2016.Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer

On Monday, the Early Childhood Enrichment Center in Shaker Heights closed its doors, after the board of directors decided that shutting down was safest for families and staff.

“Somebody said it’s like us not getting vaccinated,” Beth Price, the executive director, said of staying open.

The center, which serves 200 children, was down to about three dozen Monday. Price said families, who pre-pay for the month, can ask for a refund. But the center has asked them to continue to pay, if it’s affordable, to support the staff. Teachers will be paid and will not have to use their sick time or vacation days during what’s anticipated to be a three-week-long leave.

“If it goes beyond that, then who knows?” Price said. “Everybody is nervous. Everybody is feeling the same anxiety that I’m feeling – and if they’re not, they’re crazy.”

In the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in downtown Cleveland, Cleveland FedKids Childcare Center plans to close Friday. Director Jill Juengel said two-thirds of the families at the nonprofit facility include federal employees, who increasingly are working from home.

The center’s board decided it was better to close for two weeks, with ample notice, than to be put in the position of managing an abrupt, forced shutdown. On Monday, only 16 of the 42 kids who are enrolled at the center showed up. On Tuesday, classrooms were emptier.

“The staff are going to apply for unemployment,” Juengel said. “We will all be laid off as of Friday, temporarily laid off. … Once we close, then nobody will have to pay tuition. If we can’t provide the service, how can we ask you to pay for that?”

At Sweet Kiddles, Kimmel is searching for ways to keep her teachers employed. She has talked to major hospitals about providing childcare for health care workers.

On Tuesday, DeWine signed an executive order creating a temporary pandemic license for childcare services for parents in health, safety and other critical professions. Pandemic licenses can be granted to new or existing centers, which will operate under reduced regulations, the governor’s office said late Tuesday.

Kimmel said her business-interruption insurance doesn’t cover pandemic-induced government shutdowns. She’d only be eligible for coverage if a case of coronavirus cropped up at one of her centers. And though her employees would qualify for unemployment benefits, they’re already stretched too thin.

“The population that works in childcare doesn’t do it for the money,” she said, adding that teachers at her centers make $11 to $15 an hour, on average. “They can’t pay their bills when they’re making their full salary, so now you want to pay them two-thirds of their salary? The economy will fall apart.”

The Centers, a nonprofit organization that serves 500 families at early-childhood sites in Cleveland and close-lying suburbs, said its workers will be paid during a three-week closure that started Monday. Teachers spent their final day in the classroom bundling educational materials and other resources for the children, most of whom come from low-income households. The Centers also suspended its home-visiting program, which assists 200 families.

“There will be no staff member, at this point, that will lose their job. We’re OK for this time period, and we’re working very closely with our funders,” said Alexa New, the Centers’ senior vice president of strategic initiatives and external affairs.

In discussions on Facebook, small, home-based childcare providers – who aren’t subject to state licensing requirements – pledged to stay open no matter what. Some said they can take on additional children as larger daycare centers close. Others said they’ve already closed since more parents are working from home. A few cited concerns for elderly employees or relatives as reasons for suspending business.

“I told my families the only way I close is if the police knock on my door (which we won’t hear anyway) and have a mandatory quarantine,” one home-based provider wrote in a private Facebook group focused on childcare in the Cleveland area.

Brandon Chrostowski, the founder of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute on the east side of Cleveland, said he and his wife, Catana, are opening up their house to other families as a small childcare provider. As what the state calls a type B home, with up to six children, such an operation does not require a license. The couple has two children, ages two and four, and is talking to three other families about shared space and supervision.

“The recipe is 100% disaster if you remove childcare,” said Chrostowski, a chef whose businesses train and employ formerly incarcerated people. “We’re not a country with infrastructure where you can stop working and there’s assistance.”

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