Earlier in November WFIS had a meeting with a state advocacy organization about the possibility of private schools opening up more spaces to children on the Working Connections Childcare subsidies. At our EE zoom call, the response from EE leaders was lukewarm.
Some of the hesitation is that schools rely on their preschool students to stay for elementary. If subsidy payments end at Kindergarten, the school would need to be ready to offer significant financial aid to hold onto the students. Other concerns included a history of negative consequences when partnering with DCYF and the state, distrust in DCYF’s IT systems and electronic sign-in, and requirements and cost of systems change to receive and request payment from the government for subsidized students.
WFIS is grateful for the feedback and will pass this along to the appropriate people so they can understand why they face barriers to the expansion.
