School district votes to end OFES child care

The Oconto Falls School Board voted 5-2 March 18 to close the Kids Station child care program at Oconto Falls Elementary School after the new Encompass Child Care Center opens in the city.

Kids Station will continue at Abrams Elementary School, more than 15 miles away.

“Truth be told, the school district was not devised to provide this service,” Superintendent Dean Hess said while recommending the closure. “This is a service that the district provided because we tend to try to help people and we saw a need and the need was filled, and that aid remained until now, and now Encompass is here, and they’re able to offer this.”

The Green Bay-based child care provider purchased and is in the process of renovating the former Kaempfer and Associates building at 650 E. Jackson St. into a center offering service to 140 children.

Kids Station is a program that has provided before- and after-school child care for families at a time when few other options were available. The board had tabled the decision at its February meeting and asked for more information.

Hess said it’s more in line with the school district’s mission to work in partnership with Encompass.

“Kids Station has served our community well, providing crucial child care support during times of limited options,” he said. “Now we have a new licensed child care facility offering 140 spots.”

Some families and school board members have expressed concerns that the cost of sending children to Encompass is more than they have been paying for the school district’s service, but Hess said the district charge is based in part on the number of students using the program, and as that number goes down the price will go up.

He added that school secretaries and other support staff have been working extra time to keep Kids Station going.

“One of the things that I think most people just don’t know is how tight we are with our staffing. So currently we do not have the staffing that we need to run the programming,” Hess said. “What ends up happening is we hire folks in this current landscape … and they leave after short stints and we find ourselves relying heavily upon people within our system to work outside their areas of responsibility to try to make it work.”

Encompass brings more to the table than the school district can offer. The Jackson Street facility will be open on snow days, holidays and during the summer, unlike Kids Station.

School Board member Emilie Trudell said the fact that 80 families are already signed up for a service that opens in June speaks to the need.

“I think that’s just validating that we absolutely need to have child care brought to Oconto Falls. I think that’s incredible,” Trudell said.

Board member Ken Harter commended Hess and the staff for the background work they have done in helping to bring Encompass to the community.

“I think they may a pretty compelling case for their recommendation,” Harter said in making the motion to accept administrators’ proposal.

wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com