School board hears of community daycare ‘crisis’
Rugby Public School Board members heard teachers’ concerns about the availability of daycare services in Rugby at their regular meeting on March 8 in the Rugby High School library.
Board members listened to Rugby High teachers Brianne Welk and Brittany Lovcik describe their struggles as new moms to find daycare services for their infants. Lyndsey Graner, of North Dakota Department of Human Services Early Childhood Licensing, joined the teachers to explain the lack of daycare availability in the community.
School Superintendent Mike McNeff told the board, “We are in a daycare crisis in this community and we actually met last Friday with Heart of America Medical Center in their needs assessment session as one of the community’s largest employers – Rugby Manufacturing, the hospital, and the school. We were all saying the same thing. We can’t find workers, and that’s directly related to childcare access.”
Lovcik told the board, “I almost had to take the last few months of school off. My daycare had some issues come up and I literally had no daycare slots for my children. We are two teachers representing many.”
Welk said she had been able to find arrangements to care for her five-month-old child, however, “that fell through, so I had to piece together something for this school year.”
Welk said she had “nothing for the fall. It’s kind of scary, because our staff is so young and there are so many people looking to start families. I know Rugby is a great community. But currently, it’s lacking daycare.”
Welk said the ability of teaching staff to find daycare was a key factor in recruiting and retaining educators for schools.
Graner presented data from surveys conducted by Child Care Aware, an agency that tracks child care issues in the United States. A 2021 survey of families with children age birth through 12 years showed a potential daycare need in Rugby for 657 children.
“The potential demand right now for childcare is 403 kids. We’re meeting a capacity right now of 182,” Graner said. “That shows there’s a big need.
“Right now, I currently have nine people licensed, but three of those – one is the hospital daycare, another is the early learning center (in Rugby Public School District),” she said. “That one’s not really considered a daycare. Another is a grandma who got a license and takes care of her grandkids.
“So, that leaves six places that are licensed,” Graner added. “One, The Growing Place, has helpers, but the others are single providers at homes. We go by a point system and, for example, an infant is 0.25. So, one provider can have only infants or children under the age of 18 months. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for young kids. There’s just a huge, huge need.
“It would be nice if we could get help somehow, or just another daycare, or another license in Pierce County or Rugby,” Graner added.
She said grants are available to help providers, and she was working with Child Care Aware to put together a presentation for those considering becoming licensed providers.
McNeff shared results from a survey of school staff who expressed interest in a daycare provided by the Rugby School District. He said “potentially, we could have 17 or 18 families that would be interested in this idea.”
He also proposed hiring a daycare director and assistant for the district.
Board member Brenda Heilman asked about funding and the possibility the district could cooperate with the hospital and other employers to establish a daycare. The board also suggested asking for involvement from the City of Rugby and the Rugby Job Development Authority.
The board agreed to discuss the issue further in future meetings.
Board members also approved a request for a one-year leave for childcare submitted by Ely Elementary physical education teacher Heidi Backstrom. McNeff and the board said they could not guarantee a P.E. teaching position would be available for Backstrom on her return, and she might have to teach in another capacity. Backstrom echoed the concerns about a lack of daycare in the community expressed by Lovcik and Welk.
In other business, the board approved a request to cover expenses for students participating in the Rugby Clay Target Trapshooting Club. Kasey Okke, a Rugby High agriculture instructor, said he would coach the students along with volunteers from the community.
The board also heard monthly updates from McNeff, Ely Elementary School Principal Jason Gullickson, Rugby High Principal Jared Blikre, and District Business Manager Dawn Hauck.
Hauck told the board she consulted with the North Dakota Attorney General’s office about transferring funds from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program into a fund created to pay for construction on the Ely Elementary campus. She said the district planned to transfer $388,000 to the building fund. Both Hauck and McNeff noted costs for construction had risen, even in the short time since voters approved a bond measure for the school project.
Hauck also noted costs for food had risen, affecting the district’s hot lunch fund. She added a planned co-op arrangement to purchase food to reduce costs had been delayed, and bidding for suppliers might have to be considered.
McNeff reported the Rugby City Council had approved the proposed site design for the Ely Elementary construction project, along with an easement for an alley leading to a nearby residential area.
He added he expected construction to begin in June, and he was “very concerned about escalating costs related to the project.”
The district would also begin accepting bids to remove buildings on tracts of land adjacent to the Ely Elementary campus. The district purchased the land and buildings in 2019. McNeff said handbooks for students and school employees had been revised with input from attorneys.
“We’re experiencing staffing challenges and looking at alternate ways to fill positions,” he added.
McNeff added he had plans to attend a hockey co-op review meeting with Bottineau Schools and the Rugby Amateur Hockey Association.
Gullickson reported parent-teacher meetings held in February had 95% attendance by parents. He added the school planned to mark Music in Our Schools Month with activities and events, with the help of teachers Kari Hill and Andee Mattson. The school also planned a family folk dancing activity for the end of March. Gullickson noted fifth graders would attend Marketplace for Kids in Bottineau, a collaborative effort to develop a project, market it, and sell it. Fourth graders had plans to attend a presentation by the North Dakota Farm Bureau called “Special Assignment: Pizza” March 30, where they would learn where the ingredients for pizza come from.
Blikre said pre-registration had begun at Rugby High and Rugby Middle Schools for the 2022-23 school year. Sixth graders from Ely and Little Flower Elementary Schools attended the pre-registration sessions along with a tour and lunch at the high school. Rugby High’s student ambassadors answered questions and guided the tours.
Students at Rugby High had begun ACT testing, according to Blikre. Pre-ACT testing for sophomores would take place March 22. Blikre noted parent-teacher conferences were scheduled for March 14 and 15. Also coming up on the high school’s calendar was an FFA banquet on March 24, the end of the third quarter of the school year on March 25, and the Future Business Leaders of America state leadership conference on March 27-29. Blikre said as winter sports wrapped up for the high school, students were preparing for track, softball, baseball, and golf. Also coming in spring was the regional instrumental contest in Cando on April 1 and prom on April 2.
In other business, the board approved financials, bills, and minutes from February. The board voted to accept the resignation of Ely Elementary first grade teacher Miriah Yoder and proposed hiring Hannah Weidler as a high school special education teacher, Hannah Lemer as a high school English/language arts teacher, and Jonny Skipper as a high school art teacher.
The school board scheduled its next meeting on April 8 at 7 a.m. at Rugby High.