my daycare kerfuffle, let me show you it
Another thing I didn't get a chance to post about recently is an issue I had at Ruthie's daycare regarding their summer program. The center is part of a national chain, which has this summer program thingie where they bring in all kinds of extra activities: they have a music component, a "creative movement" piece, a Spanish-language program, and so forth. Also the director of each center brings in local performers to entertain the kids and stuff like that.
OK, sounds pretty good. Except, not too surprisingly, it costs extra. They have various levels which they call gold, silver, and bronze, or you can opt out entirely. (All of this is problematic in itself, of course, because you have to envision the teachers segregating the kids out: "okay Max, Sam, and Jenny, your parents paid for the whole shebang so come over this way...Jacob and Emily, your parents only shelled out for Bronze so you have to go back to the classroom now..." ugh! But that's not really the point of this post.)
Anyway, the director of our center, whom I shall call M., is somewhat new, having joined the center back in October. So, possibly she did not really understand how the summer program works. I am not really sure what went on in her head. It seems clear, though, that she made the very large and inadvisable (read: stupid!) assumption that all the parents at the center knew all about the summer program, AND that they all wanted to participate AND that they all wanted to do so at the "Gold" level, i.e., the most expensive.
So, the letter she sent out SHOULD have been sometime around February and SHOULD have read something like, "Our summer program, let me show you it. Here's what it's all about and how it works. Here's how much the various options cost. Please let us know by April whether you'd like to participate and at which level."
Instead, the letter went out last week and read something like, "Our summer program starts today! That'll be $25 per week extra, for 13 weeks, payable in one lump sum, so hand over the $325 asap plzkthx."
Well, apparently (I infer), I was not the only parent who read that and went "ZOMGWTFBBQ!" and hustled ass into M's office to talk to her about it. I don't know what any other parent said, but what *I* said was something very much along the lines of, "I do not have an extra $400 in my budget, and this is an expense that I was not prepared for because I had no idea this summer program even existed, so um, no. Not gonna happen."
So then -- I'm just speculating here based on observation -- apparently M called her boss up in a panic and said, "zomgwtf, the parents are revolting!" So the very next day there was a whole long letter from M's boss, the regional director, in everyone's cubby. This letter basically went like, "Our summer program, let me show you it. Here's what it's all about and how it works and how much the various options cost. And here's a form to fill out to let us know which level you'd like or whether you want to opt out entirely."
*facepalm*
Anyway, so my basic conclusion is that M. screwed this up big-time. Obviously I'm making some assumptions here, but what I know for certain is that a) the original letter DID make it sound like the summer program was mandatory and did NOT mention the three levels of payment or the option of not participating; and b) when M gave that letter to my mom (who picked Ruthie up that day), M said to my mom that "Joan knows all about it," which was patently untrue; and c) when I talked to M about it the next day, she seemed totally surprised at the idea that I didn't know about the summer program, not to mention the idea that I didn't want/couldn't afford to participate; and d) furthermore during that conversation she still did not mention the option of paying a lesser amount; and e) when she did say that I could opt out, she made it sound like she was making a special concession for me (and like my kid would be the only kid stuck in one room all bored while everyone else was in another room having a fun activity).
So I was muchly relieved to learn that in fact it was optional and there were other kids who would also be opting out, and it's all fine. It was sort of a tempest in a teapot, in that I got completely freaked out about what turned out to be no big deal. Except that my opinion of M's competence as a center director is now completely in the toilet, and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. At first I sort of thought about writing a letter to M's boss, but ehh. By now she probably already has her own opinion on that anyway.
I do so wish there were another good option. Never mind the issues I've had with the center, but even aside from that, once Isaac starts school and my office moves, Ruthie's current daycare is going to become a very inconvenient location. If only there were a daycare somewhere along the route from Isaac's school to my new office, that would be so perfect...but alas, as far as I can tell, there ain't. And the only daycare center in the vicinity of my new office, as far as I've found, is way more expensive even than the current one, so uh, no. alas.
OK, sounds pretty good. Except, not too surprisingly, it costs extra. They have various levels which they call gold, silver, and bronze, or you can opt out entirely. (All of this is problematic in itself, of course, because you have to envision the teachers segregating the kids out: "okay Max, Sam, and Jenny, your parents paid for the whole shebang so come over this way...Jacob and Emily, your parents only shelled out for Bronze so you have to go back to the classroom now..." ugh! But that's not really the point of this post.)
Anyway, the director of our center, whom I shall call M., is somewhat new, having joined the center back in October. So, possibly she did not really understand how the summer program works. I am not really sure what went on in her head. It seems clear, though, that she made the very large and inadvisable (read: stupid!) assumption that all the parents at the center knew all about the summer program, AND that they all wanted to participate AND that they all wanted to do so at the "Gold" level, i.e., the most expensive.
So, the letter she sent out SHOULD have been sometime around February and SHOULD have read something like, "Our summer program, let me show you it. Here's what it's all about and how it works. Here's how much the various options cost. Please let us know by April whether you'd like to participate and at which level."
Instead, the letter went out last week and read something like, "Our summer program starts today! That'll be $25 per week extra, for 13 weeks, payable in one lump sum, so hand over the $325 asap plzkthx."
Well, apparently (I infer), I was not the only parent who read that and went "ZOMGWTFBBQ!" and hustled ass into M's office to talk to her about it. I don't know what any other parent said, but what *I* said was something very much along the lines of, "I do not have an extra $400 in my budget, and this is an expense that I was not prepared for because I had no idea this summer program even existed, so um, no. Not gonna happen."
So then -- I'm just speculating here based on observation -- apparently M called her boss up in a panic and said, "zomgwtf, the parents are revolting!" So the very next day there was a whole long letter from M's boss, the regional director, in everyone's cubby. This letter basically went like, "Our summer program, let me show you it. Here's what it's all about and how it works and how much the various options cost. And here's a form to fill out to let us know which level you'd like or whether you want to opt out entirely."
*facepalm*
Anyway, so my basic conclusion is that M. screwed this up big-time. Obviously I'm making some assumptions here, but what I know for certain is that a) the original letter DID make it sound like the summer program was mandatory and did NOT mention the three levels of payment or the option of not participating; and b) when M gave that letter to my mom (who picked Ruthie up that day), M said to my mom that "Joan knows all about it," which was patently untrue; and c) when I talked to M about it the next day, she seemed totally surprised at the idea that I didn't know about the summer program, not to mention the idea that I didn't want/couldn't afford to participate; and d) furthermore during that conversation she still did not mention the option of paying a lesser amount; and e) when she did say that I could opt out, she made it sound like she was making a special concession for me (and like my kid would be the only kid stuck in one room all bored while everyone else was in another room having a fun activity).
So I was muchly relieved to learn that in fact it was optional and there were other kids who would also be opting out, and it's all fine. It was sort of a tempest in a teapot, in that I got completely freaked out about what turned out to be no big deal. Except that my opinion of M's competence as a center director is now completely in the toilet, and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. At first I sort of thought about writing a letter to M's boss, but ehh. By now she probably already has her own opinion on that anyway.
I do so wish there were another good option. Never mind the issues I've had with the center, but even aside from that, once Isaac starts school and my office moves, Ruthie's current daycare is going to become a very inconvenient location. If only there were a daycare somewhere along the route from Isaac's school to my new office, that would be so perfect...but alas, as far as I can tell, there ain't. And the only daycare center in the vicinity of my new office, as far as I've found, is way more expensive even than the current one, so uh, no. alas.