Is my sons' preschool ripping us off?'?

Question

My childs' daycare is actually a preschool,which is definitely honing his intellect.I will list the reasons I think we,along with all of the other parents of this daycare are getting hosed.I would greatly appreciate input on this subject.Is it a racket or what?Is it legal?
CON'S
1.They are closed every government holiday.
2.They are closed from December 24th to January 2nd.
3.We have to pay for the holidays when they are not even open.We also pay a babysitter as well.
4.We have to pay even if he doesn't attend due to illness.Even though their policy states they are not allowed to attend if they are ill.However I have seen children who were sick that are owners or workers children or relatives.Which is completely unfair to the rest of the healthy children.Besides who would make their child sit in preschool when they should be getting TLC at home.
PRO'S
1.My son really likes it there.
2.It is very clean(2 or 3 year old building).
3.He likes the activities and education he recieves.

He only attends 3 days a week,yet we pay full time prices.When he is ill my wife or I will try to juggle our work schedules the best we can so we are giving him the TLC(or his Granny).

My wife and I both have to work for financial reasons,at the time being.I would love to have my wife or I handle the education aspect.

Answer 1

yes you are definitely getting hosed. I would switch to another one. Yes your son likes it there, but he will enjoy another facility too. At his age they just like the toys, and being around other kids. This preschool is not a government office, so to close on government holidays is ridiculous. I don't know of any daycare that closes over the Christmas holidays. Never heard of paying for holidays that they are closed. If they are closed, you don't pay. Same with illness. If the child doesn't attend, you don't pay.
You'd be better off to get into a regular preschool like Head Starts program. It's run like a school, not a daycare. They are educated, and attend at least 4 days a week. Usually cost is minimal if any at all. My 3 went to a Head Start program..and that's what it's called in our area..Capital Area Head Start program...a state run kinda thing. In the program they learned everything needed for school, took field trips, got free reading books, had parents nights once a month. It was fantastic.

Answer 2

Everything you listed under CONS is pretty much standard policy. The part I don't understand is why you are paying for full-time if they are only attending part-time. My children attend daycare (which is also a preschool, like yours) and we have a different pay schedule than the full-time children. We pay more per-day, but since we pay for fewer days, we pay less than the full-time children.

As far as illness goes, the same rules need to be applied to all children. If you say an ill child attending daycare I would bring it up to the director. Every daycare I've seen has a clear-cut policy on what is acceptable and what isn't.

All daycares that I have seen has some sort of vacation or time-away policy. The one we currently attend gives us two weeks of unpaid absences that the child can use at any time. They give us coupons equal to two weeks that the child would attend. They go 3 days a week, so we have 6 coupons per child. We can use the coupon at any time, and we don't have to pay for those days. That takes care of a lot of illness and vacation, although we do end up paying for some days when the children don't attend.

The daycare we attended previously allowed us to make up the days they missed anytime in the following 2 weeks.

Answer 3

I ran a daycare for a while and the rules were pretty similar. We wouldn't charge for holidays though and i do think thats unfair, although there was a limit to how many holidays could be taken. We would close some bank holidays, its expensive to pay for staff on these days and we felt we deserved a holiday like everyone else, again though i dont agree with the charges whilst nursery is closed. Illness, we had to charge as children were off sick on purpose when they couldnt afford the fees, people started taking the mick and we lost money but we charged half fees and didnt charge if the child was poorly for a long while. I agree thought that this rule should apply to all and would say something to the owner each time a sick child is in, if your child catches it and is ill then refuse to pay.
Maybe it would be worth arranging a meeting with the other parents and the owners? Even if they could compromise and charge half for sick days or make exceptions for illnesses that last maybe 3 days or more. Its worth a try and it would be a shame to move your son as he is happy there.
Most of the Nurseries in my area have these similar rules.

Answer 4

I have often felt this way when my kids are sick. I have paid for a whole week and they never attended. Sometimes if you talk to the director you can negotiate how much to pay. But one thing to remember is that whether your children attend or not they still have to pay the workers for being there. They have to have a certain number of care givers there for the amount of children they have enrolled. So if an illness is going around and they have 7 children absent the caregivers still are there and the facility must pay them. Which is already barley above minimum minimum wage, so sending them home without pay would not be a good thing for the caregivers. If your son is happy and being well cared for consider that is worth the price. I have seen some pretty bad daycare facility's.

Answer 5

I'm in Houston and all the daycares I've looked at are closed on government holidays, and you have to pay even when the child is ill or it is holiday. Some of them will have you pay full tution even for only three days a week, some will have you pay about 80%. So it won't save you much money to switch, if he likes it, why not leave him there?

Answer 6

The best place for a child if it is possible, who is under the compulsory age for school attendance (5-6) is at home....during these formative years , this is the time in their life they will form the idea of what family means to them. it will affect them for the rest of their lives. that said I would like to add that all daycare and preschools charge whether your child attends or not. their services are available even if you decide to keep your child home that day...even due to illness...I do not feel it is right to charge you for ANY time that the school is not open to care for your child (holidays) and you should read your contract to see if this is covered and possibly lodge a complaint or at least make an inquiry to the school about it. If your child likes it there you may want to accept the terms they offer...after all your child's happiness and well being are the bottom line.

Edit...to the person who complained about being home with their child (Trisha)....I did not say you should do it if you cant afford it..I said it was best for the child if it was possible...try reading the entire answer before you comment. BTW...I am a career person too, I just chose a career where I could work from my home office often to be with my children...thanks.

Answer 7

being closed on government is standard. December 24th && jan. 2nd are also standard. Paying when there is a holiday or even when your child is sick is standard practice for most child development centers. I worked at one that in the summer if a child was going to be on vacation you didnt have to pay for the week the child was out for vacation. BUT if the child was out longer than a week then the parents had to pay for the second week. Your childs preschool sounds like every other daycare/preschool out there. If your child likes it && you like the way they are treating/teaching your child then keep him there.


yes its very legal.

Answer 8

I've worked in and around child care in 3 different states and none of the things you are saying are uncommon with the exception of the long xmas break. It's actually pretty typical. A lot of centers do allow each child a two week vacation each year, meaning you don't have to pay for two weeks of vacation so long as you tell them ahead of time. You have to remember that the teacher gets paid whether your kid is there or not.

Answer 9

I personally think any daycare/preschool is a rip-off, especially if one parent is able to stay home with their child. You can teach your child the same things as a preschool, for less money and nobody knows your child like you do. As for the social aspect, there are play groups out there, and parks etc. And the building may be only 2 years old, but alot of kids come there probably with germs and get the other kids sick. Basically I think there is nobody like mom or dad to be with children, especially these first years of life.

Answer 10

Actually most preschools are that way.. you have to pay for the entire week even if they only attend part of the week..
The only thing that seems strange to me about your school is them being closed 12/24 to 1/2 and still having to pay.. That makes no sense.
I just recently took my son out of his daycare/preschool.. he was coming home sick every other week.. I was taking 2 or 3 days off of work to be at home with him while he was sick because they wouldn't let him stay at school.. but they demanded I pay for the whole week..
If you can find a small at home preschool that is the way to go.. Less kids means less germs being passed around.. more one on one attention for your son.. and it is usually cheaper..