Daycare grapples with loss of pandemic grant

Kid Prints Inc. is facing a significant budget deficit after losing a grant that has been in place since the pandemic began. The board of directors is pursuing numerous options to keep the daycare’s doors open to local young families.

“As of September, we lost the $60,000 grant we’ve been receiving,” said Janie Hett, Board of Directors.

This grant has been in place since the pandemic began and was intended to facilitate COVID-19 relief.

The daycare is still managing to operate at under a $43,000 deficit, said Hett, but this obviously needs to be reduced.

“Last year, we increased our tuition by 5% while increasing our wages over 15% just to try to recruit and retain staff,” she said. “We have made a concerted effort to keep our tuition rates low for everyone who is struggling with our current state of economy.”

Kid Prints now intends to increase its tuition rates by another 5% in an effort to shore up the deficit. This would reduce the annual operating deficit to $22,000.

“We really tried not to have to increase our tuition, but we have to keep our doors open,” Hett said.

With the budget as it stands, Kid Prints is set to run out of money by February.

“We’re just racking our brains to try to figure out how do we make this business profitable – even if it’s not profitable, just sustainable – so that we can continue to provide,” Hett said.

“…It’s dire. We have to fix something.”

The board of directors is pursuing various possibilities to fill the rest of the budgetary gap. One of these would be to increase the number of kids making use of the facility.

However, the state sets limits on the staff-to-student ratio, said Hett, which has complicated things.

“Using our current space, it’s a little bit like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” she said.

After some consideration, the board would like to make changes to the layout that would allow more students on the roster.

One way to do this would be to change the room currently used for babies into a classroom that would hold 11 kids, moving the babies into what used to be the kitchen area. Unfortunately, state regulations caused a hiccup with this plan.

“The kitchen sink will not work to clean bottles, according to the state,” Hett said. “It’s frustrating.”

Council Member Randy Stevenson asked what would need to be done to make that sink usable. Hett said it has not been possible to get a direct answer from the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

As it’s unlikely to be economical for Kid Prints to ever again prepare and present meals, the second option would be to change the dining room area into a space that would hold another eight kids.

State regulations are also getting in the way of this idea.

“The problem with that is that the bathroom is too far away,” Hett said. “…According to the state, we would need to add a bathroom to that dining area.”

The council requested that the board continue investigating the costs associated with the two ideas and suggested putting out requests for bids, while commiserating about how difficult it can be to work with state regulations or even get the information needed to do so.

“It’s really difficult to deal with an agency that’s criticizing and critiquing everything you do but they don’t have the funds to fix it for you,” said Mayor Paul Brooks.

While figuring out the musical chairs situation of adapting the facility, the Kid Prints board has not been idle. Several fundraisers have taken place, including a color run, donut sale and cornhole tournament and the board has applied for a $10,000 grant.

A sponsorship request has also recently been sent to more than 100 businesses in the area.

“Hopefully people who are employing folks who have children will see the value of having daycare for their employees,” commented Brooks.