Prince William leaders are considering using $2 million in federal coronavirus aid awarded to the county to help residents pay for daycare.
The money comes from the CARES Act and had been earmarked by the local government to be granted to small businesses in an effort to help them recover from the coronavirus pandemic. However, county employees and some residents have said they need help paying for childcare now that public schools are back in session.
“[Daycare] is important and critical to reopening our economy, but its a hard nut to crack, quite frankly,” said Prince William County Executive Christopher Martino.
The county proposed giving grants of up to $7,500 to daycare centers that are current on their county taxes and were open for business before the start of the pandemic in March. AlphaBest, a private firm operating daycare centers in 13 Prince William County elementary school buildings, would be eligible for up to $98,000.
Each AlphaBest school site has a capacity of 30 children, and they include the following schools:
- Antietam E.S.
- Bristow Run E.S.
- Buckland Mills Elementary
- Chris Yung E.S.
- Coles Elementary
- Dale City E.S.
- Fitzgerald E. S.
- Glenkirk Elementary
- John D. Jenkins Elementary
- Potomac View ES
- River Oaks E.S.
- Tyler E.S.
- Yorkshire E.S.
AlphaBest charges $150 per week, and a $42 registration fee per child to attend its program. The service pairs one adult to every 15 children and told PLN it is ready to expand its program to more elementary schools in the county if necessary.
The majority of county school buildings have been closed to students since the start of classes on September 8, as students were forced to take classes online due to the virus.
Additionally, the county has proposed giving a $175,000 grant to the Prince William County / Manassas Boys and Girls Clubs that would allow the clubs to provide daycare for an additional 175 children at each of the three area clubs, in Dale City, Dumfries, and Manassas. The Dale City and Dumfries locations are already brimming with 45 children at each site, putting those sites at capacity.
Supervisors grew weary of the thought of granting cash directly to daycare providers, fearing the money could be spent on any number of items.
“Are we giving money to childcare providers to help their finances or are we giving money to childcare providers to provide free childcare,” said Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler. ” I want to make sure the money goes to help those who need childcare.”
“I don’t want someone getting a $7,500 grant and then them turning around and give a pay raise to their employees,” added Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson.
Deputy County Executive Michele Casciato explained the cash given to the daycare providers could be used to pay for additional space to house more children, to purchase more personal protective equipment to guard against the virus or to provide enrollment scholarships to families.
“It would be used in a variety of ways,” said Casciato.
Supervisors pushed to give the money directly to families that need it, urging the county to create an application process for residents to request the funds.
County Attorney Michele Robl warned supervisors that, legally, the county could not grant the money to individuals and would have to give to businesses instead. The county could stipulate to recipients the money be used to cover the cost of enrollment, however, the county could not enforce the rule with the threat of taking back the cash if it not used for that purpose.
Supervisors asked Casciato to go back to the drawing board to rework the proposal. Prince William County received $41 million in federal CARES Act money, and more than half of it has gone to the county’s public schools to purchase laptops for students.
In neighboring Stafford County, officials housed up to 675 students, at 13 different county schools, as part of a daycare program hosted by the Massad Family YMCA on Butler Road in Falmouth. Children of Stafford County Government employees got priority placement in the schools, while others were placed at other sites as selected by the YMCA.
The fee for the daycare is $135 per child, per week for current YMCA members, and $175 per child, per week for non-members.
