Clintonville School Board takes no action
By Bert Lehman
The financial viability of Dellwood Child Care Center was discussed by the Clintonville School Board when it met Dec. 18, but no action was taken.
During the Public Comments portion of the meeting several people spoke in favor of Dellwood Child Care. They said they were compelled to speak because they had heard “rumors” that the district was going to shutdown Dellwood Childre Care.
Dellwood information
The discussion about Dellwood Child Care came after the board had previously asked Superintendent Troy Kuhn to assemble and provide data related to Dellwood Child Care.
Kuhn told the board that dating back to June of 2022, the total number of children at Dellwood Child Care has increased to 80.
Currently there are 19 children who have been enrolled in Dellwood Child Care who live outside of the boundaries of the Clintonville School District.
Of the non-district children who have previously attended Dellwood Child Care, seven of them are currently enrolled in Clintonville Elementary School, with 12 children currently enrolled at Dellwood Child Care.
Kuhn said the first year that Dellwood Child Care was open, it brought in $350,000 in revenue, including both tuition and grants. The grants totaled $82,000 the first year. The following year, the facility had $433,000 in revenue, which included a $137,000 grant.
So far in 2023, the facility has received $26,000 in grants.
Regarding expenses, the first year of operations amounted to almost $500,000 in expenses, Kuhn said. That was followed by nearly $800,000 the second year, and so far this year, the expenses have amounted to around $300,000.
“We are normally running a deficit, I would say around $150,000 a year for the daycare,” Kuhn said.
Addressing the public
Before the board discussed the information presented, Clintonville School Board President Ben Huber addressed the public who attended the meeting. He thanked them for attending the meeting and expressing their concerns about the rumors they heard regarding Dellwood Day Care closing.
“I don’t think it was anyone’s intention for us to discuss closing Dellwood,” Huber said. “We wanted the members to understand how the process works. There have been some members who are concerned about subsidizing childcare. I think to make sure the costs for our community and our costs for our taxpayers are a consideration, but also the value added to our community is absolutely real.”
Huber said his personal opinion was that the school district should continue to operate Dellwood Day Care.
He added that having a discussion about Dellwood Child Care on the meeting’s agenda didn’t mean the board intended to close it.
“We just wanted to have a discussion about how it worked,” Huber said.
Kuhn added that next month, the board will have a similar discussion about the Clintonville Rec Center.
“And my guess is, the Rec Center will be running a deficit, and nobody’s going to be discussing closing the Rec Center,” Huber said.
Board discussion
Kuhn told the board he contacted several daycare centers that are operated by school districts and all but one that he is aware of is operating with a budget deficit.
“They (daycare centers) are considered a part of the community,” Kuhn said.
He added that at least one superintendent he contacted said the daycare in their district is modeled after Dellwood Child Care.
Board member Laurie Vollrath said Dellwood Child Care began in 2020 with 20 children, with that number rising to its current number of 80 children. There is also a waiting list of children for Dellwood Child Care.
She said parents rely on Dellwood Child Care.
Board member Kris Strauman said the district “is in the business to serve kids and the community.”
“What we’ve done for the kids, we’re in the business to teach them and to help them to become more responsible,” Strauman said.
Kuhn and Huber told the board that the tax levy for Fund 80, which is the fund that funds Dellwood Day Care, is set by taxpayers at the district’s annual meeting.
Board member Chad Dobbe brought up the point that roughly 25% of the children who have been enrolled at Dellwood Child Care are from non-district families, who don’t pay taxes in the district.
Huber said that seven of those children then open enrolled into the Clintonville School District.
“One of the reasons to build this thing was to get non-residents to come have their kids in our district because that helps us with our revenue limits,” Huber said.
“But we’re also hurting people that are paying taxes that need daycare in this community,” Dobbe said.
He added, “We need to be careful of that balance when we have the community backing it, and a need in our community for it, and we’re blocking our own community out from that service.”
Board member Jason Moder said the number of students open enrolling out of the district far exceeds the number open enrolling in. Because of that, he recommended that non-district residents be charged more to have their children enrolled at Dellwood Child Care. This would be similar to how non-district residents have to pay more for a membership to the Rec Center.
He added that since residents in the district are paying for Dellwood Child Care, they should have the first opportunity to enroll their children there.
Vollrath said some of the kids are open enrolling into the Clintonville School District.
“We’re not in the business of getting money for kids, we’re in the business of taking care of our community,” Dobbe said.
“But that’s how it works,” Vollrath countered.
Moder asked if there is a guarantee that children from out-of-district families who are enrolled at Dellwood Child Care, will eventually open enroll in the Clintonville School District.
“There’s no guarantee,” Strauman said.
“To me that’s a moot point,” Moder said. “Yeah, it’s wishful thinking. It 100% is, but there’s no guarantee that just because we have a daycare, that somebody from outside this district is bringing their kids. I’m willing to bet there’s a higher opportunity that they’re bringing their kids here, to this daycare, because that’s the only damn daycare they can get into.”
Huber said pricing for resident and non-resident families is something the board can consider in the future.
Moder also brought up the amount of expenses covered by tuition. He said in 2021, 54% of the Dellwood Child Care expenses were covered by tuition. The next year that percentage dropped to 37%, and the projection for 2023 is 37%.
He added that receiving grants as revenue is not a guarantee.
“Put it in your minds that this is only recouping under 40% of the cost it takes to operate,” Moder said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we have to close Dellwood down. I’m not saying the people that are employed there don’t do an exceptional job of what they do. All I’m getting at is we need to figure out collectively of how we can do better to narrow that gap between the cost and what’s coming in with the revenue.”
Board member Mark Zachow pointed out that the board recently increased the childcare rates at Dellwood.
He added that Dellwood Child Care is a service that the district provides.
“We’re not in this business to make money,” Zachow said.
Moder said he never mentioned making money, rather he wants the district to close the gap between expenses and revenue.
“This whole thing is very complicated,” board member Glen Drew Lundt said. “I don’t think there’s any one direction that we can go that’s going to help everybody. We just got to talk about it.”