Closings Due to Weather?

[Daycare Mommy]

Hey ladies. If you close due to bad weather (blizzard or hurricaine) do you still charge for the day or refund? (I charge a flat rate whether they are there or not normally) I used to stay open no matter what, but I had people driving their toddlers to me in blizzards while the rest of the town was closed to take the day off alone , so I'm adding this to my contract to avoid the uneccesary danger to the kids driving in those conditions. So paid or unpaid for weather closings? How do you do it?

Editing to add: Very mild weather where I live. There were only 3 instances in the past 8 years I felt it was unsafe to have the children driven here due to the weather.

[tmcp2001]

I wouldn't charge for weather closings - it's something beyond your control and beyond the parents control. I would just offer a credit for the next week (assuming you are paid in advance). That said though, it would deter me from closing often knowing that I wouldn't be getting paid!

I live in MN where, of course, we get TONS of snow. However, things very rarely close down around here. In the past five years my kids have had only one snow day - it's just something we have to deal with around here so the weather has to be pretty extreme. Plus, even if schools close, businesses don't. In all of my 27 years I can only remember the governor shutting down the state (literally - the entire state) twice. Once for extreme temps (-40 with -60 windchill, super dangerous to be out in) and once when we got socked with 31" of snow in two days. Otherwise, it's bundle up and move out, ! Incidents like those two would probably be the only times I would close my doors as a provider - otherwise it would be a huge inconvenience for parents who still need to go to work. Just my two cents!

[momma2girls]

Last yr. I had this happen, I was so mad!! I have 3 school teacher's children(who were off one day) it was a bad ice storm, had been icing for aobut 4 hrs. we ended up loosing power. I have a neighbor that lives a block away from me. Her Mom calls me at 10:00 am(it has been icing for about 3 hrs. at that point). She says "oh, just wanted to let you know Daycare girl is still coming(she usually gets here around 7:30-8:00am) I told her do you know how bad it is outside? She says yes, I have the same weather here that you have?>>>> I told her I will go out and try to salt everything, but for her to be careful, walking her daycare girl up from the drveway to the steps. I told her all she has to do is get in her van at home, parked in the garage- So I went outside and spent over 1/2 hr. salting everything, I actually fell 3 times!!!! I had to go to the CHiropractor the next day, over her!!!! I was so mad!!! I even told her I fell 3 times doing this just for her. So she comes over with her, and the power has been out now for about 10 min. THe best thing to this whole story is her husband was sitting at home laid off!!!!!! I called their home 2 hrs. later and told him, that if the power remained off, we couldn't stay in the house any longer- the temp. in the house was already at 60 some!! He told me to place everyone in front of the fireplace, I have had my fireplace going the whole time. He didn't even want to tell me he was home, when I asked him!!! I was so mad!! THe electricity did come back on- Thank God in about 3 hrs. total!! So after this nasty incident I reworded my contract to say- if the power goes off and stays off- you may be called to come and pick up your child. I guess we should add in a blizzard as well, to not risk your life, and most of all your child's life- ANother bad thing in a blizzard, it's not like we can spend an hr. or more outside shoveling!! It snowed once here 12 inches, and they all had to walk thru it all- my husband cleared it all when he got home from work, but I can't during daycare hrs. at all.

[Daycare Mommy]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I also edited my first post to add that we have very mild weather where I live. There were only 3 instances in the past 8 years I felt it was unsafe to have the children driven here due to the weather.

[JenNJ]

I have only been doing home daycare for 2 years, so it has not been bad enough where I have had to close yet even with over 3 feet of snow in a few days this past winter. That being said, I get paid if they decide to stay home AND I send out emails stating that the walkway and stairs will be clear for drop off but not pick up bc I cannot leave the children unattended to shovel and salt. I have only had one parent complain so far about that policy and I told her she was welcome to keep her children home if she didn't want to deal with slippery conditions (my husband had just had surgery so I was in a foul mood about her complaining over not having a space in the driveway shoveled for her).

If there is a state of emergency, I close with pay.

[Pammie]

My contract states that if "I" close for whatever reason, the parents don't have to pay for that day. However, if they choose to keep their child out of daycare for any reason, then fees are still due for that day.

For that reason, I don't close for snow/weather days. Most of my families choose to keep their kids home when the weather is too severe - that's their choice and I still get paid. But if they still need to go to work, and choose to bring their child through blizzards, I'll gladly accept the child.

I think it's only fair - some parents don't have the luxury of calling-off from their jobs due to bad weather - or because their daycare provider closed due to the weather.
Just my opinion

[Daycare Mommy]

Last yr. I had this happen, I was so mad!! I have 3 school teacher's children(who were off one day) it was a bad ice storm, had been icing for aobut 4 hrs. we ended up loosing power. I have a neighbor that lives a block away from me. Her Mom calls me at 10:00 am(it has been icing for about 3 hrs. at that point). She says "oh, just wanted to let you know Daycare girl is still coming(she usually gets here around 7:30-8:00am) I told her do you know how bad it is outside? She says yes, I have the same weather here that you have?>>>> I told her I will go out and try to salt everything, but for her to be careful, walking her daycare girl up from the drveway to the steps. I told her all she has to do is get in her van at home, parked in the garage- So I went outside and spent over 1/2 hr. salting everything, I actually fell 3 times!!!! I had to go to the CHiropractor the next day, over her!!!! I was so mad!!! I even told her I fell 3 times doing this just for her. So she comes over with her, and the power has been out now for about 10 min. THe best thing to this whole story is her husband was sitting at home laid off!!!!!! I called their home 2 hrs. later and told him, that if the power remained off, we couldn't stay in the house any longer- the temp. in the house was already at 60 some!! He told me to place everyone in front of the fireplace, I have had my fireplace going the whole time. He didn't even want to tell me he was home, when I asked him!!! I was so mad!! THe electricity did come back on- Thank God in about 3 hrs. total!! So after this nasty incident I reworded my contract to say- if the power goes off and stays off- you may be called to come and pick up your child. I guess we should add in a blizzard as well, to not risk your life, and most of all your child's life- ANother bad thing in a blizzard, it's not like we can spend an hr. or more outside shoveling!! It snowed once here 12 inches, and they all had to walk thru it all- my husband cleared it all when he got home from work, but I can't during daycare hrs. at all.

Yeah, I had a mom drive her 18 month old over to my house when she knew our power was out, in a hurricaine one year so she could go home and take a nap. I couldn't believe it.

[Daycare Mommy]

My contract states that if "I" close for whatever reason, the parents don't have to pay for that day. However, if they choose to keep their child out of daycare for any reason, then fees are still due for that day.

For that reason, I don't close for snow/weather days. Most of my families choose to keep their kids home when the weather is too severe - that's their choice and I still get paid. But if they still need to go to work, and choose to bring their child through blizzards, I'll gladly accept the child.

I think it's only fair - some parents don't have the luxury of calling-off from their jobs due to bad weather - or because their daycare provider closed due to the weather.
Just my opinion

I hear ya on that. I don't plan on closing unless the town is literally shut down though.