Child Care Reopens, But Many Ask For State Aid After 'Financially Devastating' Closure - WBUR
By Carrie Jung
Surviving the pandemic closures has been hard for a lot of child care providers.
"It was financially devastating," said Emma LaVecchia is the co-founder of Pine Village Preschool, which runs 10 daycare centers in the Boston metro area. To make it through, her company had to furlough most of the staff and ask for rent forgiveness. LaVecchia is planning to reopen in August but it’s going to be expensive. She estimates it could cost an additional $250,000.
"We’re going to end up doubling our glove use and cleaning supplies," she explained. "Then the schools are cleaned every night by a professional company, and they’ve increased their prices dramatically."
LaVecchia is considering a temporary tuition increase. But doing that is tricky, because she doesn't want to price parents out of coming. Still, there aren’t a lot of options for providers like her, who rely on parents paying out of pocket to cover costs, which is why many say they need more financial assistance to keep going.