Gentlemen and Ladies,

On behalf of Overlee Cooperative Preschool I am requesting changes to the Proposed Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers, specifically in regard to the requirements for staff orientation and ongoing training. 

Since 1945 Overlee Cooperative Preschool has been a place for parents to actively participate in their children’s education by working directly in our classrooms as teachers’ aides. The new requirements for staff orientation (22VAC40-185-240) and ongoing training (22VAC40-185-245) would impose an undue burden on our parents by expecting them to complete 16 hours of orientation and 20 hours per year of ongoing training. Our parents volunteer on average only 50 hours a year in the classroom. Parents who are volunteering their time are simply not going to be able to complete the same orientation and training requirements as our paid classroom teachers. 

We request that the total number of training hours (both orientation and ongoing, collectively) for cooperative preschool parents be limited to the current 4 hours. Please remove the language "who are not considered staff" from section 22VAC40-185-245C describing the required annual training for cooperative preschool parents. Please include an exception for cooperative preschool parents in the new orientation training section 22VAC40-185-240. 

Parents working in classrooms at Overlee Cooperative Preschool complete all of the background checks outlined in Background Checks for Child Welfare Agencies. They work under the direct supervision of well qualified and trained classroom teachers.

If the orientation and ongoing training sections of the proposed standards are not changed, cooperative preschools like ours, may be forced to shut down, as parents are unwilling to enroll their children in programs which put unreasonable burdens on them. Either outcome robs children of the high quality, affordable early education that cooperative preschools provide.

Both of my children attended Overlee Preschool and benefited tremendously by having not only my husband and I in the classroom, but other parents as well, with whom they developed strong relationships. Some of those relationships have continued throughout my children's childhood and those individuals serve as role models to my children in their teenage-hood.  During our time at Overlee Preschool, I was actively involved in the board and served as President for a term.  A parent-run cooperative preschool allows parents to be involved in the early years of their children's lives, which is so important in this day of disconnected families. It also allows for an affordable alternative for those seeking early education and socialization for their cihldren. A cooperative preschool is a fraction of the price of a school which is fully professionally-staffed.

I hope you will consider carefully this decision and will do the right thing by not only Overlee Preschool, but other cooperative preschools like it in Virginia.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Maria Monteverde-Jackson
Director of Events and Community Relations
Washington Waldorf School