Lakeland board to consider child care price increase

The Lakeland Joint School District board may raise the price of its Before and After School Enrichment program Wednesday.

The price hike is one of several recommended by Brian Wallace, former district director of finance, before his April departure. Its cost wasn’t covered by fees this year, so savings were used to make up the difference.

But the program can’t continue to operate at a deficit, Wallace advised.

Trustees will consider raising the price from $250 to $325 per month for certain services. They heard a partial proposal for the price increase May 8, but postponed a decision.

"I would like to see the full rate schedule," Trustee Randi Bain said in May.

BASE rates vary depending on factors including how many kids are enrolled, if they attend both mornings and afternoons and how many days of the week the students are enrolled. The $325 would be for one student for five days per week in the morning and afternoon, which would be the highest price for one student on the updated list. All other price changes will be available to the trustees Wednesday, after Tuesday’s election results reveal if two Lakeland levies pass.

The increase would match the price of a similar child care program in the Post Falls School District, but would be $75 more than Coeur d’Alene’s, said Lakeland Superintendent Lisa Arnold.

“We were more concerned about our local child care agencies,” Arnold said. “One of the things that’s hard for them is they sometimes feel like we undercut them and they lose clientele because we’re less expensive.”

Like many child care programs in the area, BASE has been short-staffed, so the program has only been available at Athol and Garwood elementary this year.

The program is a state-licensed child care provider, which requires employees with experience in child care and child-development training.

The fee structure will need to be decided before the district’s final budget is approved and publicly noticed before registration starts in mid-August.