Stafford County will open its schools this fall for daycare. It’ll keep the buildings closed for teachers and students.
The county school division says it plans to house up to 675 students, across 13 different schools, as part of a daycare program hosted by the Massad Family YMCA on Butler Road in Falmouth. Children of Stafford County Government employees will get priority placement in the schools, while others will be placed at other sites as selected by the YMCA.
Classes will resume virtually in Stafford County on August 8.
Late last month when leaders decided to scrap plans for a hybrid return, with some students in the classroom and others at home, they decided the transition period into a hybrid learning model will be different for each grade level.
- Elementary school students will participate in virtual learning from Aug. 31 to Oct. 1, with health and academic data analysis being conducted on Sept. 21 to determine if a hybrid plan is plausible.
- A decision on the matter will then be announced on Sept. 24.
“We’re not putting 500 kids in one building,” said Stafford County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Administration Chris Fulmer. “At most, it’ll be 50 kids at one building.”
The admission that county school buildings were going to be used to house a daycare program came after much confusion during a series of meetings at the Stafford County Government Center on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Some elected leaders didn’t know whether or not the schools should be open to the daycare program despite being shuttered for teachers and students, while others repeated second-hand information obtained from residents indicating the schools would not be used for the daycare program.
It wasn’t until late in the evening on August 18 that Fulmer confirmed children in the daycare program would house housed in public schools.
The Massad Family YMCA is offering the daycare, dubbed it’s Virtual Learning Center.
From the YMCA’s website:
As a trusted child care provider for decades, the Rappahannock Area YMCA is honored to provide safe, fun, and educational care for school age children in our community. The YMCA’s Virtual Learning Centers will offer students a safe and fun place to participate in virtual learning, as well as necessary child care for working parents during the school day.
As part of the program, children will bring their laptops with them and attend classes virtually while being supervised by YMCA staff. This would free-up parents to return to work, as well as provide out-of-work parents an opportunity to look for new jobs.
The fee for the daycare is $135 per child, per week for current YMCA members, and $175 per child, per week for non-members.
Meanwhile, the Stafford County Government has negotiated a discounted rate for its employees who would use the daycare service, like public safety employees in the fire and rescue and sheriff’s offices. They would pay $133 per child, per week.
Stafford County would use federal CARES Act money approved back in March due to the coronavirus, and provide a stipend for the children directly to the YMCA.
Here’s a snapshot from the Virginia Department of Education that shows the school divisions that are reopening in-person, reopening with a hybrid model, or as is the case in Stafford County, reopening 100% virtual classes. Click here to see the full table.
