Staff Scheduling Question(s)

[acemanhattan]

Hello friends!

I am in the early stages of budgeting/forecasting/planning for a child care center my wife and I plan to open, and have a few questions for you all.

When it comes to scheduling I know that I have to plan for enough teachers to cover minimum ratios, so it's fairly simple for me to estimate/calculate MOST of our teacher staffing needs.

My biggest source of uncertainty is with respect to what to assume when scheduling additional support teachers. I know that I'll need more teachers in the building than required by minimum ratios to cover, for example, in cases where there's an absent teacher, or when teachers need to take their breaks, but I don't know how many more teachers I'll need.

If anyone can offer me insight into how you schedule these additional teachers beyond minimum ratios, I would be super grateful! Bonus points if you are nerdy (like me) and you'd be willing to share some sort of Excel spreadsheet you've made to help you manage scheduling.

Thanks so much!

[Cat Herder]

I believe many centers use software programs for this, now. This one is recommended quite often. https://www.ezcaresoftware.com/child...ng-attendance/

[acemanhattan]

I believe many centers use software programs for this, now. This one is recommended quite often. https://www.ezcaresoftware.com/child...ng-attendance/

Thanks for this, but I don't think it answers the question I am asking.

I'm basically looking for an answer to the following question "minimum ratios dictate that I'll need x teachers to be within required ratios. However, I know I need more teachers scheduled than that, because I need to have teachers on site if there are teacher absences, and for teacher break/planning periods. How do you decide how many additional teachers you need beyond minimum ratios?"

[Blackcat31]

Thanks for this, but I don't think it answers the question I am asking.

I'm basically looking for an answer to the following question "minimum ratios dictate that I'll need x teachers to be within required ratios. However, I know I need more teachers scheduled than that, because I need to have teachers on site if there are teacher absences, and for teacher break/planning periods. How do you decide how many additional teachers you need beyond minimum ratios?"

That (bolded) depends on your state requirements.

The link posted above DOES assist with staffing and ratios.

On the site it says,
"Track attendance and optimize staff to child ratios
EZCare’s computerized Time Clock records check-ins and outs and allows you to share attendance data with parents and daycare staff. Administrators can better handle scheduled attendance and ensure adequate staff coverage for emergency childcare needs."

Other than that type of thing (software) there really is no way of knowing how many additional staff people are needed since that depends on how many kids are in attendance, how many leave early or stay later (altering intended ratios) and how many teachers call in, don't show up or leave early etc...

How many kids do you have in attendance and how often are their schedules different than what they originally scheduled? How many teachers do you currently have? How many are you required to have? How many call in or don't show up? How many are available on an "as needed" basis?

[acemanhattan]

That (bolded) depends on your state requirements.

The link posted above DOES assist with staffing and ratios.

On the site it says,
"Track attendance and optimize staff to child ratios
EZCare’s computerized Time Clock records check-ins and outs and allows you to share attendance data with parents and daycare staff. Administrators can better handle scheduled attendance and ensure adequate staff coverage for emergency childcare needs."

Other than that type of thing (software) there really is no way of knowing how many additional staff people are needed since that depends on how many kids are in attendance, how many leave early or stay later (altering intended ratios) and how many teachers call in, don't show up or leave early etc...

How many kids do you have in attendance and how often are their schedules different than what they originally scheduled? How many teachers do you currently have? How many are you required to have? How many call in or don't show up? How many are available on an "as needed" basis?

The bolded does not depend on your state's ratios (re-read "beyond minimum ratios").

The link does assist with staffing and ratios, but I asked a specific question about staffing and ratios that it does not answer, so it's not helpful.

[flying_babyb]

We had 4 classrooms who required 7 teachers. My boss would have three extra everyday. One extra would do the cooking, then breaks. The second would clean then do breaks. The third would cover potty breaks, ect and help with paperwork and do breaks. If someone called in she would still have two break people and a sub. You could really do two part timers just for breaks

[acemanhattan]

We had 4 classrooms who required 7 teachers. My boss would have three extra everyday. One extra would do the cooking, then breaks. The second would clean then do breaks. The third would cover potty breaks, ect and help with paperwork and do breaks. If someone called in she would still have two break people and a sub. You could really do two part timers just for breaks

Awesome! Thank you for this feedback.

[Blackcat31]

The bolded does not depend on your state's ratios (re-read "beyond minimum ratios").

The link does assist with staffing and ratios, but I asked a specific question about staffing and ratios that it does not answer, so it's not helpful.

Well, I guess I am not understanding your question then.

No matter how many times I re-read it.

Hope you get the answer you are looking for....

[acemanhattan]

Well, I guess I am not understanding your question then.

No matter how many times I re-read it.

Hope you get the answer you are looking for....

Did you read post #3?

Since someone has been able to respond directly to the question, I'm pretty sure it's not a herculean task to interpret what I asked.

[Blackcat31]

Did you read post #3?

Since someone has been able to respond directly to the question, I'm pretty sure it's not a herculean task to interpret what I asked.

Well I’m glad you got an answer.

Hopefully your interactions with clients won’t be so snarky

[Ac114]

Well I’m glad you got an answer.

Hopefully your interactions with clients won’t be so snarky

Agree with BC 😁

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Thanks for this, but I don't think it answers the question I am asking.

I'm basically looking for an answer to the following question "minimum ratios dictate that I'll need x teachers to be within required ratios. However, I know I need more teachers scheduled than that, because I need to have teachers on site if there are teacher absences, and for teacher break/planning periods. How do you decide how many additional teachers you need beyond minimum ratios?"

I think you are being a bit harsh to people who have been in business for a lot longer than you. This is a valuable site for new providers and I would take it ALL in...not just what you want to hear.

The number of staff you will need scheduled over the bare minimum to meet ratios depends on a number of things. Is your current staff dependable? Are their hours standard or part time?How many kids do you have and what times do you have them? How many people can you afford to pay? I would say that every business would love to have a back up on standby, but that's usually not the case unless you can afford to pay them to wait. For that reason, I would suggest you operate under your ratio until you develop a staff that can support a full load. Good luck to you.

[acemanhattan]

I think you are being a bit harsh to people who have been in business for a lot longer than you. This is a valuable site for new providers and I would take it ALL in...not just what you want to hear.

The number of staff you will need scheduled over the bare minimum to meet ratios depends on a number of things. Is your current staff dependable? Are their hours standard or part time?How many kids do you have and what times do you have them? How many people can you afford to pay? I would say that every business would love to have a back up on standby, but that's usually not the case unless you can afford to pay them to wait. For that reason, I would suggest you operate under your ratio until you develop a staff that can support a full load. Good luck to you.

How is what you quoted harsh?

I thanked someone for their response, then explained that it wasn't answering the question I was asking, and I finished by restating the question so that it might be better understood.

Operating under ratio is a good option. Thanks for that insight.

[Febby]

Partially depends on your business hours and how large the center is.

Usually I see 1 breaker per 4 regular classroom staff (so 5 total). Plus then 1-2 extra (usually part-time) floaters for the building to substitute in classrooms or fetch supplies or clean common areas or whatever.

[acemanhattan]

Partially depends on your business hours and how large the center is.

Usually I see 1 breaker per 4 regular classroom staff (so 5 total). Plus then 1-2 extra (usually part-time) floaters for the building to substitute in classrooms or fetch supplies or clean common areas or whatever.

Awesome feedback! This is very helpful, thank you!