Marlboro Parents Raise Before- & After-Care Concerns At BOE Meeting
MARLBORO, NJ — Parents expressed frustration Tuesday night with the Marlboro Township School District’s recent change in provider for its before- and after-school child care program, saying the change has increased the cost and taken away flexibility in scheduling. One parent said her child was sent home to an empty house because of scheduling confusion with the district’s new provider.Here’s what you need to know:Change in ProviderConcerns about the district’s new before- and after-care program came after the district switched providers from Champions to the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County in the spring. In a special board meeting on Aug. 13, YMCA of Greater Monmouth County Vice President Stacey Lastella shared a presentation on the Y-Kids before- and after-care program with the board. Brian Cohen, one parent who attended the meeting and a current candidate for the Marlboro Board of Education, questioned what the RFP (Request for Proposal) process consisted of when choosing the YMCA as the district’s new provider, as well as the cost of Y-Kids compared to Champions. School Business Administrator Vincent Caravello said that while price was stipulated in the RFP, it was not the only factor in choosing the district’s new provider. According to Board of Education President Valentina Mendez, a “variety of factors” came into play when the board chose Y-Kids as the new program, including safety measures, staffing model and the YMCA’s answers to questions from the board. Patch has requested Champions’ and the YMCA’s RFP documents from the board. In the board’s April 30 meeting agenda, it’s stated that entering the program agreement with the YMCA includes “a guaranteed financial return representing 8% of the total net revenues, to the Marlboro Township Board of Education, to be received after month-end close.” Patch has reached out to the board for further information on how much the town received when Champions was the district provider as well. Since making this switch, Marlboro parents said they’ve seen an increase in pricing for care and that program flexibility has been taken away. Those who attended Tuesday night’s meeting shared these concerns with the board. Parent ConcernsBrianna Maglio, one parent who attended Tuesday night’s meeting, said the district’s change in provider has not only increased the costs of her daughter’s care, but almost resulted in her daughter being dropped off at an empty house.According to Maglio, her daughter was supposed to attend after-care on Sept. 6. Maglio updated her daughter’s Y-Kids schedule to reflect this change on Aug. 30, but when the system didn’t update, her daughter was sent home on the bus while she and her husband were at work. “When sent to the bus by her teacher, my daughter informed her that she was supposed to attend after-care,” Maglio continued. “But because my daughter’s YMCA schedule incorrectly indicated that she was to take the afternoon bus, she was sent home to an empty house.”Luckily, when the bus driver reached her daughter’s stop, Maglio said the driver realized no one was home. From there, her daughter was brought back to school and Maglio and her husband were called about the situation. “My husband and I were at work when we got the call, which is the literal reason we pay for after-care,” Maglio said. “My daughter is diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which both the school and the YMCA are aware of, and this error more than rattled her. It scared her, it scared us, as it would scare any parent.”In addition to this incident, Maglio said the change in pricing from Champions to Y-Kids has left her with less care per week and higher program fees. Where Maglio once used after-care four days per week, she can now only use three, and pays $50 more per month for one less day of service.“The monthly schedule used by the YMCA as opposed to the weekly one used by Champions is impractical and wasteful,” Maglio said. “Life with kids is day-to-day, not month-to-month.”Melissa Held, another parent who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, raised similar concerns about her program fees. In addition, Held said she’s paying for days of care she doesn’t need due to the structure of Y-Kids’ scheduling. “With Champions, you were able to make your schedule weekly and I only had to pay for the days I needed,” Held said. “But not with the Y. If I have a doctor’s appointment on a Tuesday and I need to put my daughter in after-care, I have to pay for every Tuesday that month. With Champions, I did not.”According to the Marlboro Township Public Schools website, families must register their days with Y-Kids on a monthly basis "to ensure adequate staffing." Once registered, a monthly fee is drafted on the first of each month. As a teacher in New York City and as a single parent, Held said flexibility and affordability with before- and after-care is vital for her family. If New York City schools are closed while Marlboro schools are open, for example, Held said she still has to pay for days of care with Y-Kids, whereas with Champions, she did not. Additionally, Held said she also must pay a registration fee for both before- and after-care when signing up for days with Y-Kids. “If my daughter did not use after-care with Champions, but I was in a predicament such as traffic, I could call the school and they would put her in after-care as a drop-in,” Held said. “I don’t know if I could do that with the Y. There are registration fees for both before- and after-care, which equals more money.” Board ResponseIn response to parents’ concerns, Mendez first thanked those who came up to speak and apologized for issues they’ve encountered with the Y-Kids program. Though Mendez said some of the issues raised were ones she’d have to look into more after the board meeting (such as paying for days of care when schools are closed), she did respond to concerns such as the flexibility of the program and registration fees. In response to one parent’s concern about being unable to drop a child off at before-care without prior registration, Mendez said the district spoke with the YMCA about the issue, and that the YMCA’s concern is about staff being unable to meet the needs of extra students. “Their concern is that if we had 30 people do that [drop students off for care without prior registration], hypothetically, they may not have enough staff,” Mendez said. “Their staffing-to-student ratio is based on people that have registered.” According to the Marlboro Township Public Schools website, drop-ins for the Y-Kids program are allowed, though parents have to register and pay the annual registration fee for a child to attend an a.m. or p.m. session. When a parent signs up for a drop-in slot, they’re asked to notify the YMCA office as well. In response to Held’s point about paying two separate registration fees for before- and after-care, Mendez said that one of those fees is automatically dropped when you go to check out.“It looks like there’s two, but when you get to the very end and check out, it actually takes off one of the fees,” Mendez said. “I don’t want you to feel deterred from signing up for after-care thinking there are two fees when there are not.”According to Mendez, the Board received an email from another parent about the same issue, and board members went through the registration process themselves to test any charges for registration fees.In regard to Maglio’s experience with the Y-Kids program, Mendez apologized for what she and her daughter went through, and thanked Maglio for taking the time to attend Tuesday’s meeting and speak to the board.“Thank you for sharing your experience,” Mendez said. “I understand the changes are not something that you feel are favorable at this point in time, and I appreciate you sharing that.”You can watch the full Marlboro Board of Education meeting here.Read the Aug. 13 meeting minutes here. To view the April 30 meeting agenda, you can click here. The article Marlboro Parents Raise Before- & After-Care Concerns At BOE Meeting appeared first on Marlboro-Coltsneck, NJ Patch.
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