Dealing With A Teacher's Schedule

[Blackcat31]

Yes, I'm full but I don't maintain a wait list. I fill my spots in advance when I have them. My next two openings are September 2012 right now and those are filled already. I could never take a family back that I told a parent they had to pay for the summer to hold their spot and they told me that they would give notice and see if I had a spot in Sept. So disrespectful!!

I feel that I provide a superior service and that they should be grateful to have their kids with me. My current clients pay me well and don't complain about the cost. My clients don't leave me, they age out or move and I constantly turn away word of mouth business so I'm doing something right. The kids are healthy, busy and happy so I don't see any reason to deprive myself of two months income because that family chose to not work in the summer. There are plenty of families that do work and will take the spot.

I have several families with 6+ weeks of vacation and I only offer 2 weeks free per year. They all pay for the remaining weeks to hold their spots so I couldn't treat a teacher any differently even if I wanted to.

This exactly.

[Live and Learn]

Some options......
1. 1/2 rate when not there to hold the spot.
2. Minimum rate when not there to hold the spot.
4. Higher weekly rate thru the school year, then don't charge for the summers off.
5. I would def make them pay for the breaks throughout the school year though, they get paid for them, you should too.

The key with using #4 is to CHARGE ENOUGH EXTRA so that it works out the same money wise as if you worked all summer, spring break, winter break, and inservice days.

[daycare]

I do option 4 with the teachers that I have worked with.

Should they need to have thier child attend at any time while on their breaks, I charge a drop in fee. They can pay by the hour of $12.50 per hour or $50.00 per day. It's up to them.

I also can not guarantee that the spot will be open for them to drop in.

[Crazy8]

Yes, I'm full but I don't maintain a wait list. I fill my spots in advance when I have them. My next two openings are September 2012 right now and those are filled already. I could never take a family back that I told a parent they had to pay for the summer to hold their spot and they told me that they would give notice and see if I had a spot in Sept. So disrespectful!!

I feel that I provide a superior service and that they should be grateful to have their kids with me. My current clients pay me well and don't complain about the cost. My clients don't leave me, they age out or move and I constantly turn away word of mouth business so I'm doing something right. The kids are healthy, busy and happy so I don't see any reason to deprive myself of two months income because that family chose to not work in the summer. There are plenty of families that do work and will take the spot.

I have several families with 6+ weeks of vacation and I only offer 2 weeks free per year. They all pay for the remaining weeks to hold their spots so I couldn't treat a teacher any differently even if I wanted to.

I didn't mean to offend you, sorry if it came across that way. I think daycare is just VERY different in different areas and what works for some wouldn't work for others. I have a pretty successful business as well and turn clients away when I'm full but I'm also in an area where a good percentage of families have a SAH parent and don't use child care so with the large number of daycare options out there working parents really have their choice. Being the one who requires payment over the summer just wouldn't work for me. But I know this when I sign them, and I have a nice mix of teachers and full year workers so I can plan for the lighter income and take the lighter load for the summer with pleasure! Ironically one of my teachers is my latest pick up at 5pm, so in the summer I am done a half hour earlier and get 1-2 days off during the week. Its worth it for me!

[MG&Lsmom]

In my state, my own kids count in my capacity during the summer. I need 2 spots this coming summer, so I'm offering teachers summers off with no pay. If I didn't need them I would probably charge a small weekly fee to hold the spot for the Fall, or encourage them to send the child part time, 2 day a week maybe. When my kids were in daycare this is how I did it. They were toddlers and having that consistency of still going to dc made the full time transition easier. And it gave me 2 days a week to prep for the coming year.

This is my current offering: week long breaks and summer off free of charge and will hold the spot for the Fall with a 2 week deposit. They get their deposit back if they cancel their spot by Aug 1 or it goes towards the first 2 weeks of care in the Fall if they keep it. In this area, most teachers get a lump sum payment on the last day of school for the 2 months of summer vacation. So most can pay the 2 week deposit and it prepays some of their bill for the Fall when the money has run out. I only had 1 person do this last year and I no longer have the baby since I termed them in Oct. I would love to fill these two spots already and just be FULL!

[mac60]

So you get a deposit, hold the spot for weeks, and if they then decide by Aug 1 to dump you, you then return their money? So in reality, you are holding their spots for free, as you use the $$ for the first weeks back into care. I would say you are losing out here.

[melskids]

Some options......
1. 1/2 rate when not there to hold the spot.
2. Minimum rate when not there to hold the spot.
4. Higher weekly rate thru the school year, then don't charge for the summers off.
5. I would def make them pay for the breaks throughout the school year though, they get paid for them, you should too.

i do #4 and fill the spot with a school ager

[MG&Lsmom]

So you get a deposit, hold the spot for weeks, and if they then decide by Aug 1 to dump you, you then return their money? So in reality, you are holding their spots for free, as you use the $$ for the first weeks back into care. I would say you are losing out here.

Right, I hold the spot for 5 weeks. With snow days we typically go until the 3rd week of June. There are massive teacher layoffs going on. Some aren't notified until the end of August they have no job to go back to. Yes, I loose out for those 5 weeks of potentially filling a spot. I've had a least one spot open this entire year. Too may daycares, not enough kids. I'm losing out all around.

[AnythingsPossible]

All but one of my families are teachers and I wish I would of done things a little differently then I have. They do not pay for any school year breaks or for summer break.

What I wish I would have done is give them a flat monthly rate for the school year, and still not charge for summer. Even if they do pay for some time that they aren't using during the year, not having to pay for the summer would make up for that.

[bice99]

I taught for 11 years and paid my provider for every day, whether our girls were there or not. That was what she asked and I don't argue with people whose contract I have signed. Now that I own my own daycare, I still like my family time, so, I am closed all stat holidays, our school district's Christmas and spring breaks. I get paid for one week of Christmas, but not the other 2 weeks. So families pay me monthly (50wks x weekly rate / 12 months). My teachers pay half rate in the summer and as a courtesy can come 1/5 of their normal hours, day and hours to be decided by me. They are paying 1/2 rate to hold their spot for the fall, not to be able to come in the summer. So if I'm busy or out of town, they don't get to come and they still pay me. Whole summer hold fee (based on 10 weeks of teacher summer) is due on June 15th. Non-refundable. Separate contract signed. That way if their work schedule changes before school starts up (I have a part time teacher) and no longer fits my needs, they have to find someone else and I still get to keep my money. They all pay and some ask if they can pay for extra hours/days in the summer. I get to decide if I want them.

[JaydensMommy]

I like my summers/holidays off so I go with #4.

If all of my kids were out during summer than maybe I would consider a discount or even not paying for summer, but her child would be the only one that is not here during summer, christmas and all the other breaks.

[Blackcat31]

If all of my kids were out during summer than maybe I would consider a discount or even not paying for summer, but her child would be the only one that is not here during summer, christmas and all the other breaks.

I agree. If most of your families were teachers then it would be a completely different game all together.

If that were the case, I would love to take my summers off or atleast only have a couple kids but where I am the teacher's kids are sprinkled pretty evenly throughout all the area daycares and I think all the providers here charge the same rate every day/week no matter what.

[e.j.]

I don't really care what parents do for a job/career.

Mine is child care and every space that is reserved for a child is paid for. So if a teacher wants to keep their child's space, they pay the same as everyone else.

I understand that they have different schedules but I think if I made exceptions for one career then I would hear all sorts of creative ways other families should have discounts as well.

Ditto.

But are you filled to capacity? have a wait list? Because for me, if a parent said, ok, I'll just give notice and see if you have a spot avail in September I would probably still have that spot available. Now I wouldn't want them to do it that way (and I probably wouldn't take back on principle) so I rather just give them the summer off and have their wonderful, well behaved child back in September (now the not so wonderful I will think twice about, LOL).

I give my teachers the choice to pay for the spot for the summer or take the chance their spot may or may not be available to them in September. Almost every teacher has made the choice to pay for the spot.

This past year was the first year in 15 years that I did have a mom who decided to take a chance. I'm not offended by her choice, even though I would have liked her to stay/pay. In the current economy, I understand she was trying to save money for her family. If I had been able to fill her spot, I would have. Instead, I ended up using her hours for drop-ins and for parents looking for extra hours of care for their children. It looks as though there will be a spot available for her in the fall. I will take her kids back without hesitation. It'll be more money for me in the fall and to me, it would be like "cutting my nose off to spite my face" to not take her back.

[Unregistered (logged out)]

Registered, but logged out for privacy.

I only keep children of teachers. It is how I run my business because it works for me. This is what I do- I charge them so much per week and they pay regardless if they are here or not, but I do give them weeks off from paying. The weeks parents do not pay are Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, Spring break and Summer break. This works for me because get these times off as well. I just plan ahead and have money set aside. I personally do not think it is fair to charge them for more than a week of not being here. If you cannot afford it, I would look for a different family that fits your needs better.

[Sunshine44]

No, teachers do NOT get paid when they are off. They get a salary, like a lot of other careers, and it divided by 12 months and they are paid so much accordingly. It isn't getting paid for not working, it is their normal pay 'held back' so they DO get a paycheck during the summer months.