A $750,000 state grant will help Hamilton Southeastern Schools develop an employee-sponsored on-site child care program for district employees, providing day care for children up to preschool age.
The grant was awarded through the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
HSE Chief Finance Officer Katy Dowling gave a presentation about the grant during the Jan. 10 HSE Board of Trustees meeting. She said that once the program is up and running — hopefully by the start of the 2024-25 school year — the plan is that it would pay for itself through user fees.
“You’re literally investing, and it’s not going to cost the district directly,” she said. “And that, to me, is important given, you know, what I do here. Prior (to this grant), if we were going to implement this, we would have had to have come up with the upfront cost at the expense of other programs we offer and we don’t have to do that with the grant money. We’re able to do it through the grant, which means we didn’t say no to something else.”
There are some potential costs to the district involving renovating spaces to accommodate a day care center, she said. Those expenses would have to come from bond funds. The grant will cover equipment and furnishing, operational expenses and some overhead costs.
Dowling said providing child care on-site will help the district recruit and retain employees and will increase overall child care capacity throughout the community.
During public comment, Hamilton Southeastern Education Association President Abby Taylor said HSEA members are thankful the district is moving forward with a child care program.
“I can’t tell you how many times this was a pie-in-the-sky type of thing that all teachers and employees have asked about year after year,” she said. “Because if you know anything about how early the high school (staff) have to come in, it starts … earlier than most childcare is open.”
The first steps toward creating the program will include appointing an implementation team and hiring a consultant, surveying district employees about their child care needs and evaluating school facilities to see which ones have suitable space for a day care center. Dowling said the program will start small and expand as resources allow.
