EXCERPT FROM: Killeen Daily Herald
By Jackie Stone
COPPERAS COVE – With state funding falling off and paid enrollment decreasing, Copperas Cove Independent School District has decided to end its day care program for employees and students.
At its meeting Tuesday night, the board unanimously voted to end the program at the December school break and to help the affected parents find new child care for the 13 children currently cared for there.
The four full-time employees and one part-time employee who staff the Child Development Center at the district headquarters on Avenue E will have employment with the district at least through the end of the year.
Superintendent Rose Cameron said the program is run from a combination of state funding to cover student parents and tuition paid by the employees who use the center.
Paid enrollment and funding have been falling for several years, but the program has been able to continue operations for the past four years by using a fund balance left from the program's early years of the program when state funding through the Pregnancy Education and Parenting grant was plentiful.
"What hurts us is we get these grants and put these programs into place, and then they cut us off," Cameron said. "Ultimately what they are doing is putting the burden back on the taxpayer.
Cameron said the center has now run through its fund balance, and keeping the program operating through the end of the school year could end up costing the district $35,000 to $45,000.
"It's hard. It's people's lives, but you've got to look at the best use of the resources," she said.
Board president Joan Manning said the board has been afraid it would have to cut the program for some time.
"I'm glad it lasted this long," she said.
The Child Development Center provides day care for newborns through 3-year-olds. Currently there are seven infants – four belonging to students – and six toddlers who receive daily care.
Full text available at Killeen Daily Herald.