Action | Amend Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers to Address Federal Health and Safety Requirements |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 4/6/2018 |
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.
I respectfully urge you to implement the above changes to the proposed regulations in order to preserve the viability of traditional cooperative preschools.
**I am currently a parent whose two children are enrolled at a cooperative preschool. Should the regs go through as written, I would most likely have to withdraw my children from our beloved school due to the undue, overly burdensome requirements placed on parent volunteers. These changes would be a mistake and risk ending a valuable asset in child education and development. Not only do children receive amazing development opportunities at cooperative preschools, but parents do too. I have been lucky to learn so much during my time in the classroom and through the required continuing education, and feel I am a better parent creating better human citizens as a result. I also believe I am getting a great start to being an involved parent in the Arlington County Public School system, where I intend to enroll my children in a few years.
Best regards,
Stephanie Linnane