On behalf of Hunters Woods 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. 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 4 hours of 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:

1. Cooperative parents undergo the same background checks as staff;
2. Cooperative parents assist professional staff in the classroom 18-22 days/year, for a total of 45-55 hours/year (thus required training hours could be more than half of the number of hours in class for the entire year);
3. 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 have participated in cooperative preschools both as a parent and a teacher and fully understand their value and the unique role they provide in a child’s education.  The benefits of the cooperative model of preschool education are unmeasurable. Cooperative preschools provide training as well as a valuable model of parenting to the parents. I have also been employed in a Day Care Center and this learning and experience is not provided.  Many parents give up much to be an integral part of their child’s education.  It would be unacceptable to deny them this opportunity.

I encourage you to reexamine the Proposed Standards and consider those suggested above.