The Fulton Public Schools Board of Education has voted to end the Options Daycare program, effective June 30.
At a Wednesday meeting at Fulton High School, the board decided to take action following ongoing concerns about the program's financial sustainability. Due to low numbers, the school board created an Options Daycare committee in January to discuss the program's future.
"It was a difficult conversation to have," FPS board President Emily Omohundro said.
The board voted 5-2 to end the program in mid-2020, with the two "no" votes coming from board Secretary Andy Bonderer and Vice President Todd Gray. The primary concerns from those opposed to cancelling the program stemmed from recognizing the benefit the program provided those who use it.
"It's going to be tough (for those who have used the program). Day care is a pretty competitive business. I just hope they can find acceptable day care providers," Bonderer said.
The Options Daycare committee included FPS board members Jackie Pritchett, Leah Baker and Omohundro, along with FECC Director Jennifer Meyerhoff, FPS accountant Jennifer Milligan, Superintendent Jacque Cowherd, and the program's staff members and parents.
"The purpose (of forming the committee) at the time was that we were seeing declining numbers of kiddos who were utilizing Options; and based on the numbers, the revenue versus the expenses, there was a pretty big gap there," Omohundro said.
The program was open to FPS staff members and aimed to provide services at the same price and quality as other local child care providers. In April, the school board voted to raise the rates for the program to compensate for its low numbers.
At Wednesday's board meeting, the topic was discussed at great length, as many board members shared their opinions. The discussion always came back to money.
"You can't keep operating at a loss," board member Verdis Lee Sr. said.
Omohundro said the Options Daycare committee met immediately before the Board of Education meeting Wednesday night. During their meeting, she said, the committee concluded the program should be cancelled.
"The committee's stance on the future of the program was to move forward with our goal of providing more pre-K classes to kids in our community and to eliminate the program," Omohundro said.
One of the district's ongoing strategic plan goals is to provide free pre-K for all children in the district, Omohundro said. Eliminating the Options program will free up space for 30 students across three pre-K classrooms.
At the meeting, Gray wanted to hold off on making a decision until January due to the impact it would have on participating parents. Omohundro insisted the board should make a decision because, she said, they'd promised action to the committee.
"I didn't think it was fair to the patrons of the day care to drag it out to January or February," Bonderer said.
Bonderer looked on the positive side, also highlighting the classrooms' availability for pre-K classes in the future.
From the money perspective, Bonderer understood the decision.
"We've got to look out (for the district), and we can't keep losing money," he said.
Both Bonderer and Omohundro know cancelling the program will have an impact on its patrons. Omohundro said there are various other child care options in Fulton, but many of them are at full capacity.
"Having two of my own children in day cares in Fulton, the issue I've realized is that they're all full, for the most part," Omohundro said. "There are at least four day care centers in Fulton. There are a number of in-home day care settings in town."
"The day care business is tough, and so that's why I think our patrons will be impacted because it gets rid of that guaranteed spot they had with a high-quality program," Bonderer said.
Omohundro said many of the students in the Options Daycare program will likely be eligible for either kindergarten or the district's pre-K program after this school year. Omohundro said the district is currently working on reassignment of the program's staff within the district to ensure none of them will have to leave employment within the district.
The Options Daycare program launched during the 2005-06 school year, Omohundro said. In addition to the Options program, the FECC provides a special education services class as well as preschool.