The Bulletin Archive
Dr. Erika Martin, associate professor of biological sciences, presented the Childcare Task Force’s final report to ESU Faculty Senate on Tuesday.
The closure of Emporia State’s on-campus childcare facility, The Center for Early Childhood Education (CECE), was announced in May 2022 and went into effect this academic year. The announcement sent the campus and community into a general outrage as Lyon County, and most of America, is facing a childcare crisis.
According to the National Public Radio, 1 in 3 families struggle to find childcare amid rising costs and limited available places. TOOTRiS estimates the average price of childcare per child is $700-$1000 a month for Kansans. According to LifeTales, parents can expect a waitlist time of up to two years before their child lands a spot in a childcare facility. Moreover, the retention rate for those in the childcare profession is low since the average hourly wage is less than $12.
After petitions, meetings, and an overwhelmingly negative response to the decision, ESU has not planned to offer or assist with childcare for its students, faculty, and staff, according to Director of Media Relations and Internal Communications Gwen Larson.
The ESU Faculty Senate created the Childcare Task Force chaired by Dr. Erika Martin and Senate Vice President Mallory Bishop. Faculty Senate developed the task force to find out how the removal of on-site child care affects those at ESU, assess the need for childcare on campus, seek out support for child care through stakeholders and grants, and suggest a model for child care that prioritizes those at ESU.
At the Oct. 31 meeting, Martin began by reporting the results of surveys the task force had conducted about the need for child care, in which an anonymous student stated, “I would not have enrolled, and I would not have been able to graduate without the on-campus child care program.”
Martin said that “without access to childcare, students would not have been able to complete coursework.” She mentioned that the average age for an undergraduate student is 26, which is a typical age for parents.
The task force also found that faculty in need of childcare would either leave the institution to find another that will support their needs or will leave their job altogether to become a full-time caregiver for their children. According to one survey, between 60% and 90% of alums, faculty, staff, students, and community members thought it was essential to have a childcare program on campus.
Martin also covered the financial aspects of the task force’s job. The task force and Associated Student Government worked together to reallocate 50% of the CECE funding to the Equal Opportunity Fund for students, who can utilize it to cover childcare costs. The task force applied for nine grants to fund child care in Emporia; they received eight, totaling $2.3 million. One grant is pending, and they will submit two more with the hopes of getting a total of $5 million. However, the grants are unavailable to ESU, as ESU does not and will not have a childcare program on campus.
Instead, the funds will go to the Emporia Area Chamber with plans to purchase and renovate the Maynard Elementary School and turn it into a child care center called “Little Lyons.” The (unconfirmed) plan is that after a 5-phase renovation, the facility will become the area’s first 24-hour childcare provider, accepting infants to 6-year-olds.
Tentatively, the facility will have a medical facility partnered with the ESU nursing school and other community and academic programs, allowing students and community members to work there. They want to offer competitive wages to childcare workers, starting at $15 an hour. They also want to provide services at a lower cost than other facilities in the area.
“Nothing is set in stone until it is,” Martin said, but she hopes that phase 1 of the project will have part of the building open in July 2024.
At the end of the report, Martin presented the Senate with three options: the Senate takes no action, a new task force can be created, or a permanent committee can be created. Martin suggested that if the Senate wants to continue researching and pushing for child care, they cannot choose the first