Tim Kaminski, owner of Gingerbread Kids Academy, said his doesn't want to close his day care, but he may have to if government aid for child care centers doesn't come soon. | Contributed photo
Tim Kaminski, owner of Gingerbread Kids Academy, said his doesn't want to close his day care, but he may have to if government aid for child care centers doesn't come soon. | Contributed photo
Texas child care centers are having trouble staying open during the coronavirus pandemic and, according to a national survey, most day cares that close for any amount of time will find they can't survive.
A survey by the National Association for the Education of Young Children showed that 30% of day cares that close for over two weeks don't survive. Data also showed that one in five day cares don't survive being closed for any amount of time.
National Association for the Education of Young Children CEO Rhian Evans Allvin said this data didn't surprise her, because child care is a fragile business.
And in Texas, child care centers are having a difficult time staying open with all of the strict protocols COVID-19 has brought.
Melanie Johnson with Collaborative for Children told Houston Matters that some of those protocols are limiting parent contact to drop-off and pick-up only. And no children will be allowed in the day cares until their temperature is taken and they are cleaned and sanitized.
In Fort Bend County, Tim Kaminski and his family-owned day care, Kaminski's Gingerbread Kids Academy, are following all of the protocols.
Kaminski's day care has seen a drop in the number of children enrolled to less than half of what it was before the outbreak. His after-school contract with local schools is also on-hold. To cope with the loss of revenue, he has cut back the day care's hours and the hours for his staff.
“I think the biggest challenge is keeping a smile on my face," Kaminski told Houston Public Media. "When you’re the person that everybody’s looking to for that leadership and that direction, if they see that things are starting to get to you and they see the worry on your face, it gives them less confidence in what’s happening. Because if we end up closing, then they’re not going to be able to go to work. And that’s going to create another problem in the area."
But Kaminski said he may have to close the day care until further notice.
He told Houston Public Media that he wants to stay open to provide day care for essential workers, but unless there is economic relief for child care centers coming soon, he doesn't think he will be able to.
“Right now it’s a very precarious situation,” Kaminski said.
His child care center lost $60,000 in March. If the day care stays open, he would have to take out $75,000 to $100,000 a month in small business disaster loans.
Kaminski said he is doing everything he can to avoid closing, but he told Houston Public Media that he filled out unemployment forms for his staff just to be safe.
“The main thing that we don’t want to do is make this any more of a hardship on our employees than it already is,” Kaminski said. “And for some of them, this will be the first time in their lives that they’ve been laid off from work.”
Alerts Sign-up