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Impact on Education erases BVSD families' child care debt

Daily Camera - 1/12/2021

Jan. 12—Nadine Pernudi and her husband worked at a restaurant that closed during the pandemic, leaving them both looking for work.

She found a job at a thrift store, but is making less than half of her restaurant salary. Her husband, whose entire career has been in restaurants, is still job hunting. So when their third-grade son's teacher at Monarch K-8 said in August he would benefit from extra support in reading, they were in a difficult spot.

She said through a translator that Boulder Valley's school age care program looked like the best option, but the family couldn't afford to both pay tuition and buy groceries. Supporting her son with online learning while she works and her husband job hunts was another challenge. So was getting him to engage online from home.

After hearing her situation, Boulder Valley agreed to enroll her son in its school age care program and waive the tuition while trying to figure out either state assistance or another way to cover the cost.

"It's been an immense help," Pernudi said, noting her son's teacher said his reading is improving. "It's a relief to know we can continue to send him to the program."

The Pernudi family was one of 53 families who used Boulder Valley's child care services in the fall, but couldn't afford tuition and didn't end up qualifying for the state's Child Care Assistance Program. Impact on Education, the foundation for Boulder Valley schools, recently paid their combined $25,000 child care debt.

"We said, 'Let's step in,' " Impact Executive Director Allison Billings said.

She said the foundation used its Student Academic Support Fund to cover the outstanding amount. The district sent letters to the families last week, letting them know their unpaid account balances were now paid.

"The families can go into the new year without at least one bill weighing on them," she said.

Boulder Valley Community Schools Director Renée Williams said the first step for families who needed financial assistance was to have them apply to the Child Care Assistance Program. But a variety of reasons could disqualify a family, including having a child over 12 who needed care, undocumented status or an unemployed parent who still needed care.

She said the district committed to enrolling families and providing scholarships for those who didn't qualify — even though her department hadn't identified a funding source for those scholarships. The district's child care programs are self supporting through the tuition fees charged to families.

"We told them just send the kid and we will figure it out," she said. "We made the commitment to the family that your kid has a safe place to go where someone will make sure they get their work done. It keeps them from falling further behind."

The families mainly had children attending the district's school-age care, where district employees supervise and make sure they're attending remote classes. The district offered the full-day program during remote learning, as well as on Mondays, a day when students learn independently. A few also had children in the preschool and infant and toddler programs.

The district is continuing to provide full-day care on Mondays for K-8 students and before- and after-school care Tuesday to Friday. Impact on Education now is looking into raising additional money to cover the costs for more students in need to attend Monday's child care program.

"There are a large number of kids whose family situations just don't fit in a neat box but need to have a caring qualified adult supervise them," Williams said.

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