I am involving myself in the orientation, ongoing education, and building and grounds hours that are required so that I can coop 2 days of the school year in my daugter's classroom (the only two days that don't coincide with FCPS school calendar, my husband coops the other days).  I don't mind and can handle the committment I make now, so I can have that opportunity!  20 hours is not reasonable for me to coop two days!  I also receive continuing education through FCPS.

A cooping preschool has the added value of consistent and diverse parental involvement in the learning and development of young children that noncooping preschools do not have.

I have been a teacher for over ten years and currently teach fourth grade at FCPS. One of my experiences was as a lead teacher of a head start program.  It was an awful experience because of the demands placed by government, and means suggested to get parental involvement felt artificial and not authentic as it feels in the AUCP coopng community.

My initial feeling upon meeting the staff and abundance of parent volunteers at the open house was a sense of authentic community.  I have only been able to coop twice this year and have so very much enjoyed the welcome feeling by the staff, time spent connecting with other parents, and the open invitation for me and my husband to be a part in my child's first steps in education.  

Parent cooperative preschools, which have existed for over 100 years, are placed in jeopardy in Virginia by the Proposed Amended Standards. Current Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers recognize the critical role of parent volunteers in the parent cooperative preschool model by including for cooperative parents an exception requiring limited training annually. This exception recognizes the unique role that 

parents hold in a cooperative preschool, as well as the intrinsic value of an early childhood education model premised on parent involvement. 

The Proposed Amended Standards as drafted, however, undermine rather than support the cooperative preschool model by requiring cooperative parents to either: 

(1) Complete the 36 training hours (16 orientation, 20 ongoing) required of professional staff, or (2) Remain in constant sight and sound supervision of a staff member. 

These two alternatives fail to recognize that: 

•Cooperative parents undergo the same background checks as staff; •Cooperative parents assist professional staff in the classroom 1-2 days/month, for a total of 3-6 hours/month (thus required training hours could exceed the number of hours in class for the entire year); •Cooperative parents serve a unique position in the classroom, where they remain under the guidance and supervision of professional staff but may at times not be in sight and sound supervision of staff. 

These changes are unduly burdensome both to the cooperative parents who seek meaningful engagement in their children’s educations and to the small cooperative preschools that rely on parent engagement to survive. 

To preserve the parent cooperative preschool in Virginia, the Proposed Amended Standards should be revised to allow cooperative preschool parents to work in the classroom without sight and sound supervision of a staff member provided that the parent: 

(1)Satisfactorily completes the same background checks required of professional staff; and (2)Completes a total of 4 hours of orientation and ongoing training annually.