Business Plan Created by Children's Center Parents Keeps Center Functioning at Current Capacity without Any Staff Layoffs

We know it’s been quiet over here. But don’t mistake our silence for defeat or lack of work! We have been working behind the scenes on several different items to help push our proposed plan forward. 

The business plan, created by a team of rockstar parents, keeps the Center functioning at the current capacity without any staff layoffs. It restructures and reallocates some staff resources at the Center to maximize operational functionality. At its smallest scale, it drives a lower deficit than the plans proposed by the OCC Administration without displacing children or laying off staff. Utilized at its full potential, it has the Children’s Center back to profitability within a year. Their plan? It keeps the Children’s Center running a deficit without an end in sight. It seems like a no-brainer, but OCC’s Administration, and the board, are still showing reluctance to seize this opportunity. 

We have been working with the student body, local community, public officials, and media groups to put pressure on the OCC Administration to take a serious look at the plan. It has taken weeks of us pushing to get the time and attention we know this plan deserves – but we finally got that meeting scheduled for the end of this week! Our hope is that all the current Children Center enrollees will have spots at the Center come July 1st,  and that our beloved staff will still have their jobs that they, and many of us, depend on.

In the meantime, we are working on lobbying on a greater scale for early childhood education. We have experienced the direct repercussions that lack of quality childcare can have on families. As we have hesitantly started to explore the potential reality of finding alternative childcare we are met with the bleak reality of what few programs exist and are reassured of the quality of care we are lucky enough to have at the Children’s Center. But accessible, quality care shouldn’t be bound to luck. All families deserve that. With that in mind, we are attending a round table discussion with Katrina Foley tomorrow, March 26th, which will be focused on the topic of childcare. In addition, some of us will also be attending brunch with Katrina Foley on Saturday to celebrate Women’s History Month and celebrating influential women in our community. 

Again, we remain hopeful. We’re not done fighting yet. In fact, we believe that this is one battle, part of a larger war. We hope to take our learnings and share them broadly - so that we can do our part to help end the childcare drought. Thanks for sticking with us as we’ve been more quiet around here. We will keep you all updated as we know more. 

[As originally posted on Preserve The OCC Harry & Grace Steele Children's Center]