Daycare operating on a “first-come-first-served” basis?

[lostsoul_]

We have something quite bizarre happening at our daycare, and I wonder if anyone has had that happen to them.

We are in an area where daycare is just about impossible to find, with year-long wait lists. Our 5 month old has been attending a (standard, corporate chain center) daycare that has been great under its previous director, but seems to have fallen in total disarray after the director left 3 weeks ago. It is supposed to be a high-quality 5 star facility, with good reviews, we registered our kid for an open spot, and have been taking her there daily. Her teachers are great, we absolutely adore them.

Then something went very wrong with staffing on the daycare side, one would presume. Our classroom was closed on no notice this past Friday (I got a call at 6:30 AM), and today they called just as I was leaving to drop off the baby at 8:30 AM saying that they “have reached the capacity” and we cannot come in. And now they are telling us that they are working on a “first come first served basis” and if we want to have a spot for a day, we need to be there “by 7:30 AM at the absolute latest”. WTF? - what is this insanity? I would have never picked this daycare if they told me upfront that they can’t get the “capacity” for the number of kids they have registered and attending. What is driving me madder still is that all of this is done in the stupidest possible way: e.g. to get my kid to her 9AM doctors appointment, I will have to bring her in by 7:30, and then take her out at 8:30, instead of simply bringing her in after her appointment as I would normally do. (I asked, and they shamelessly told me that I need to bring her in, just emailing them to tell them she is going to the doctor does not work!) Interestingly, also, while this daycare has excellent reviews, a review posted 5 days ago is 1 star, and the comment is what I could have written: the place was great under the previous director and is a s*** show currently.

Had anyone had to deal with something like this? We had our oldest in (different) daycares for 2.5 years by now and never had a single day of them having “reached capacity”. I also wonder what our options are at this point. We are calling daycares nearby but chances are waitlists are several months long there.

 

[junkyarder]

@lostsoul_ Sounds like a bunch of staff must have left with the previous director. That's not a good sign. They are legally required to maintain a certain ratio under their license so that's why you're having to deal with first come first served. There must be someone above the director you can call. I'm not sure what much they could do but I'm sure they'd like to know, if they don't already, that the new director may be driving staff away in hoards negatively affecting the care you're getting.

 

[lostsoul_]

@junkyarder You are right - 4 teachers have quit apparently, we were told today, including both teachers in my daughters’ classroom. That means that on any given day there are at least 16 kids who are signed up for this daycare but will be turned away if they come in. Abject disaster.

 

[katrina2017]

@lostsoul_ Nope, that's a major problem.

You are paying for the spot. If you're paying, you get to use your spot as you see fit, but the whole reason you're paying is to guarantee that when you want/need to send your child in, there is a spot for her.

If they're telling you that's not the case, they're not holding up their end of the contract. Obviously sometimes there can be some back and forth; every year our center asks parents for a plan for the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas break so they can plan staffing if like half the kids aren't coming in and staff are asking for time off. But they always have enough coverage for a couple families to change their minds.

I'd be looking for a new center. I don't pay a mortgage payment every month so that I can maybe access the care I need. I wouldn't fault the teachers, but if the administration is a mess, turnover is gonna go even higher, and I wouldn't wait for the implosion.

 

[teknontheou]

@lostsoul_ We had the "capacity" thing happen a couple of times at our old daycare - never to us directly but they had to turn later arrivals away. This was during the height of COVID in late 2020 though, when lots of staff got sick at the same time and had to quarantine for 10 days. I know they have to maintain ratios but for a daycare to be so stretched they don't have auxiliary/backup personnel, that's a serious problem. In both previous and current daycares, the manager was/is a fully qualified childcare professional who joins rooms as needed, they sometimes combine rooms if it's quiet, and I think the current place also has a cleaner/cook/support person who can also assist if needed as long as qualified staff are in the room (eg at meal times).

 

[spacecadet3767]

@lostsoul_ Our daycare has had staffing issues. We have a volunteer list where you can say you have flexible needs and they will call down the list and ask if you’d be willing to keep your kid home that day (and not pay).

First come first serve is annoying. Staffing challenges are reality right now.

 

[ilykmtns]

@lostsoul_ This happened at our daycare, because they were short staffed and needed to stay in ratio.

 

[scooper8]

@lostsoul_ I have been in situations where I haven’t been able to accept a child at drop off until another staff member arrives, but never that it’s a regular occurrence that parents might not get care. I wonder if requiring drop off by 7:30 is because they want to staff as minimally as possible? I’ve worked at places where they will combine classes and send staff members home if they have more than the absolute minimum to stay legal, which saves money (and reduces tuition) but is really hard on staff because you don’t know if you’ll actually get a full paycheck from week to week.

 

[darksunshine03]

@lostsoul_ It’s a staffing issue, obviously, and there’s no way around it unless they get more staff. Just like you said, sounds like a shitshow.

We have a great daycare with a great daycare and they still struggle with staffing where if someone has a day off and more than a few people are sick, then they have issues staffing rooms and have asked people if they can keep kids home or what have you. Sometimes this works as we have some Head Start kids where I think they might not necessarily NEED childcare, or for us we try to keep our kids home if they ask because we both work from home.

No director, less staff, sounds like they are scrambling every day and how else would they go about this? Ugh.

 

[stuart1717]

@lostsoul_ My son's old daycare had this happen a lot, beginning with Covid hitting. It was and is very challenging to find sufficient staff at many centers, which means they either have to restrict the number of kids who come in or else fully shut down the room because of ratios.

I had to move my son to a different center where they weren't running into the same staffing turnover/call-out issues.

 

[katiemassachusetts]

@lostsoul_ I used to work in daycares and as a former assistant director I can say it is very very Norma for a lot of staff to leave when there is director turnover.

I am not saying this excuses them because what they are doing is total BS. But I do also feel bad for the new director. It can’t be easy to start a new role and have a lot of staff quit.

Basically this situation sounds awful for everyone and I’m sorry you and your children have to deal with it.

 

[lostsoul_]

@katiemassachusetts Thank you for sharing this perspective! I wish I knew this earlier, would have asked where the director is going and tried to get a spot there.

 

[wiley27]

@lostsoul_ This sounds awful. Did they mention any sort of refund back for the days that your kid can't come/isn't accepted? Our daycare is more than our mortgage - which we pay because we want the option for planned, full-time care. I'm mad enough about all the time we paid this past year while LO was out sick for 5 weeks with various illnesses, but if they started calling and telling me he can't come in because we didn't get there in time? I would be losing it.

That's too much additional stress. I'm sure they're also suffering stress with this staffing issue, but it still doesn't make it any easier for the parents scrambling to find care the day of.

 

[lostsoul_]

@wiley27 They do offer refunds, yes; not offering refunds would have been even worse. Probably because of the refund this is not illegal (we do not pay for the service we do not receive), but the refunds really do not solve the core issue for the working parents: how disruptive and stressful it is to not know, in the morning, whether you’d have daycare for the day. Will I be able to do what I’ve promised my colleagues? And can I promise much of anything, really, if I don’t know that I’ll have daycare? We have a toddler, too, who currently leaves the house at 8:30 but would need to be out by 7 if we are to make this dropoff. Adjusting baby’s schedule isn’t a question, but getting a toddler into a whole new routine with no notice? Shoot me now.

 

[freetobefreedom]

@lostsoul_ This is dumb and sounds like a social experiment. Our daycare handled this by shortening hours, having student/parent volunteers, and changing staffing shifts around. It wasn’t ideal but at least we didn’t have to RACE TO DAYCARE EVERY MORNING TO BEAT THE OTHER KIDS OUT.

 

[lostsoul_]

@freetobefreedom This! - social experiment, exactly. Pits parents against each other.

 

[anubiscoria]

@lostsoul_ Yep. That’s the default state of daycares around me. It’s so messed up! They usually start by cutting hours, asking for volunteers to stay home, and then if they still can’t make it work they will turn people away.

My son is at an in-home daycare so he’s not affected but many of my coworkers are scrambling for care. It’s nuts. We love love love our in-home care providers and right now they seem much more reliable than the larger centers.

 

[jowel]

@anubiscoria I was going to suggest to OP to find an in home daycare. We never had these issues in over 4 years at the two we've been at. Seems much harder to keep large centers staffed vs in-homes are usually just owner plus 1 or 2 assistants, max.

 

[crustyfrog]

@lostsoul_ We went through four directors in three years at my last daycare. The first one was adequate the second was great. The third was only “acting” and probably would have been great given a chance but they brought in someone else who was terrible. Chased off five teachers in the three weeks we served out our notice (her arrival just happened to coincide with our departure anyway, but I’m glad it did because I would not have wanted to stay).

They just sent a survey like we were still enrolled and I slammed it.

I can’t imagine having a first come first serve situation - I imagine the other alternative would be to unenroll students from the bottom of the roster up though.