Class Size Cuts Squeeze Day Care

Toni Gartner worries that her 8-year-old daughter could become a latchkey child when her day-care center at Arbolita School in La Habra closes.

“I’m a single mom,” Gartner said. “I have to find something.”

The sentiment is shared by parents of others of the 300 children who attend the Arbolita Child Care Center. The La Habra City School District, faced with a need for more space because of class size reductions, has asked the day-care center to leave the building it has used for 15 years.

It is a scenario that could play out in other districts statewide when the full impact of class size reductions, compounded by enrollment growth, is felt next school year.

The state’s efforts to reduce classes to 20 students per teacher in kindergarten through third grade has put a crunch on school space. Districts that once had extra space and loaned or rented it to day-care operators now need it back--putting the fate of many child-care programs in jeopardy.

The YMCA of Orange County, which operates 50 centers in public schools throughout the county, is preparing to be hit hard in September, when fall enrollments are known. So far, said YMCA President Art Wannlund, “none of those districts have said to just move. But in a month or two, we might be having a different conversation. That’s when we’ll see the impact, when school opens.”

A survey by the state Department of Education found that about 22% of state-subsidized child-care centers were displaced when public schools began downsizing classes and looking for new rooms. Considering that the study was done in the early stages of the class size reductions, that number probably has risen, said Patricia Gardener, a department consultant.

Although eviction is the most extreme fate for day-care centers, it isn’t the only way they suffer, said Michael Silver, an administrator with the education department. Many centers may have to settle for less desirable facilities, he said.

“For a lot of people, it’s poor space, but at least it’s something,” Silver said.

Some relief may be forthcoming. Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposed budget includes $15 million to provide loans for private day-care operators squeezed out by the class size reduction program.

“We received a lot of feedback that the class size reduction program had such an impact on private child-care givers that we took action as fast as we could,” said Dan Edwards, the governor’s secretary of education. “This money will help caregivers find nicer facilities or more preferable locations, such as being closer to residents.”

Also, the state Legislature has formed a conference committee to address the needs of school space, and a $100-million bond measure is before the Legislature that would provide funds for school construction.

It was almost a year ago that the Legislature allocated $1 billion to reimburse elementary schools that pared classes to 20 students. Of that, $200 million was allocated for facilities, a figure “way short of actual need,” said Bob Wells, assistant executive director of the Assn. of California School Administrators.

Even when all the surplus space is exhausted and all day-care programs are relocated, school districts will probably still find themselves short of space, said Sue Pendleton, the state Department of Education’s facilities consultant.

“It’s going to be more of a problem,” Pendleton said.

The La Habra district’s decision to ask the Arbolita day-care center to leave to make room for public school classes was difficult, Supt. Rich Hermann said.

“We would have loved it to remain the same,” he said. “It really is the best place in town.”

The decision also was hard for parents to accept, and some still hope that it can be reversed before the July 1998 deadline.

“I don’t think this is the only solution,” parent Dwight Carey said. “We still have time.”