West Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - King of the Jungle’s daycare closure and others recently are continuing to put the pinch on parents; other child care centers say they want to help, but they can't.
It's another full house today at Learning Universe childcare in West Fargo, a situation happening at daycares across the metro, too many kids and not enough space.
The latest closure of King of the Jungle isn't making an already tough situation any better. Trisha York, owner of Learning Universe says she has a 2 year waiting list of kids needing daycare. Adding to the crunch, four daycares have closed in the last year alone, leaving a couple hundred kids in the metro without care. But many daycare providers say their hands are tied to offer any help.
Trisha York: “To build a brand new building is expensive and to buy the land and build the building and make it up to code, it just isn't happening.”
And that's just the beginning of the problem for owners.
Holly Nett: “Their milk prices are going up; their gas prices for transportation are going up.”
Holly Nett with Childcare Resource and Referral says this daycare dilemma needs a solution now before the area starts to see the consequences. Some ideas being talked about include child care center grants and financial incentives from the state to help with employee retention, something that's already offered to owners in Minnesota, but not North Dakota.