Schools and colleges are shifting to distance learning, restaurants are only serving take-out meals and all other businesses deemed non-essential by Governor Henry McMaster have been forced to close their doors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
But private preschools and day care centers are not included in mandates related to McMaster’s coronavirus, leaving homeowners to make difficult decisions, as they should close on their own.
Gail Cunningham, director of Young World Day Care in Clinton, faced these decisions first hand last week after two teachers at her family’s daycare center were tested for the COVID-19 virus.
The company chose not to inform parents that the two employees were being tested, “under the guidance of DHEC,” said Cunningham in a video message posted on the center’s Facebook page on Friday.
“I did what DHEC advised us to do and told her to end the quarantine … and not cause panic,” she said.
It was only after one of those teachers was positive that Cunningham and his team decided to close the facility, starting on March 31.
“(DHEC) told us that we didn’t have to close. They told us that we didn’t need to tell everyone. They told us that we would only communicate with the parents of the children in that specific room, ”said Cunningham.
A spokeswoman for the state emergency response team did not initially answer questions about whether the world youth day care center was instructed, directly or indirectly through previous statements, not to warn parents before an employee’s results, but said that “It is generally not recommended to place quarantine contacts on those being tested until the results return.”
“Currently, there is no recommendation for notifications to be made when a team member is being tested,” DHEC spokeswoman Cassandra Harris said in an email on Sunday, noting that there is a delay between the time someone is exposed to the virus and the time when it becomes contagious and with symptoms.
If a daycare worker tests positive for the virus, not all parents who have children at the center will find out. The decision to notify parents “is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the timing of the symptoms, who may have been exposed, etc.,” said Harris.
If an employee’s test is positive for the virus and is in a nursery while potentially contagious, “starting 48 hours before symptoms start until criteria for stopping isolation are met” then it is recommended that the center temporarily close for two to five days “for thorough cleaning and disinfection, while communicating with staff, students and parents,” said Harris.
“DHEC works with daycare centers to follow CDC guidelines, which are extensive and evolving,” said Harris.
Cunningham and other employees finally decided to contact all parents at the daycare individually to inform them of the news, she said. Later that day, his father was admitted to a hospital with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19. He was confirmed positive for the virus the next morning.
The center is scheduled to reopen on April 15, according to a Facebook post.
On March 24, 45 percent of the state’s 2,419 licensed child care providers closed their doors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most of them are all small businesses, not mega-businesses where they have a great source of income to stay afloat without children being physically present,” said Fedrick Cohens, president of the SC Early Childhood Association.
Day care centers and preschools are in an awkward position now, said Cohens.
They provide vital services for parents who work as first responders, medical professionals, supermarket clerks and other jobs who still require them to report to work in the midst of the pandemic, but also provide an ideal environment where the virus can spread quickly among students. .
“Most daycare centers are not open because of fear of COVID-19,” he said.
For daycare centers or preschools that have chosen to remain open, many of them are operating with limited services and few enrollments, said Cohens.
As a result, many employees of daycare centers and private preschools were fired.
Approximately 745 daycare workers applied for unemployment in the week of March 22, according to the SC Department of Employment and Labor. More than 650 elementary and high school employees across the state also applied for these benefits.
Lee Stevens was one of them.
Stevens is the director of The Acorn School of Charleston, a small pre-kindergarten learning center. As a private facility, it was up to them to decide whether to close, he said. Much like what they did in the past with inclement weather, the school chose to follow the actions of the Charleston County School District and close its doors at least until the end of April.
The last day the facility was opened was March 13. Since then, all monthly payments have been suspended and all employees have been laid off.
“We don’t have vast financial resources to cover the payroll, unless there is money coming in,” said Stevens.
Now he and his team have been forced to join the thousands of other workers trying to navigate the state’s unemployment system.
“I waited eight hours for a return call the other day,” he said. “On a practical level, this has been a challenge.”
But what he misses most is being able to see school students every day.
Filling a need
More than 115 day care centers have been closed in Charleston County alone, according to the SC Department of Social Services.
To assist medical professionals with supportive child care, the Charleston County School District has partnered with Roper St. Francis to implement a two-week kindergarten pilot program for kindergarten through fifth grade students at Memminger Elementary.
“It’s a big impact for (employees) in their daily lives,” said Melanie Stith, vice president of human resources at Roper. “I have a single mother who basically said that this program would be a godsend, because she was working with options to support fragmented child care.”
The child care operation has implemented different screening protocols and techniques to ensure that parents, staff and students themselves are not harming themselves by spreading the virus.
“I mean, with the coronavirus, we can’t guarantee anything, and you know that everything we are doing is the best we can do under these circumstances,” said Stith.
All students and staff will have their temperature checked daily before entering the building, and groups will be limited to six students per classroom.
Team members and children will practice social detachment throughout the day, food will be served with gloves and playground equipment and other frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned throughout the day, according to the CCSD’s director of operations, Jeff Borowy. The building will be sanitized and thoroughly cleaned every night.
In Berkeley County, the parents of the Daniel Island Academy were informed on March 21 that a student who attended preschool had tested positive for the virus, and anyone entering the facility after March 9 could have been potentially exposed .
Two days later, the parents were informed that the child’s case was in fact a false positive. They only needed to get tested if they started to experience symptoms, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath.
Erica Fox decided to get her son out of preschool when she found out that schools were closed. She said the Daniel Island Academy was open for a few more days before closing.
Fox was not frightened after seeing the first message warning her that his son had been potentially exposed – “Honestly, I think everyone will understand” – but was confused about how a student received a false positive result.
“Obviously, someone doesn’t know what they are doing in terms of tests and how accurate the tests are,” she said, emphasizing that she did not blame the school in any way for the confusion.
Daniel Island Academy did not respond to requests for comment.
Monthly fee problems
Many daycare centers and preschools have also been forced to discuss whether to charge parents during the crisis.
Stevens said the Acorn School suspended all tuition payments as soon as the school was closed.
“It was pretty obvious that this was what we had to do, since we realized that the parents were unemployed and this is an unprecedented crisis,” he said.
When the school reopens, “payments for these services will be expected,” he said.
Fox said he is paying 50 percent off his 4-year-old son’s tuition at Daniel Island Academy, although the school is temporarily closed.
“I think it’s fair. I know some parents who are very unhappy about it, but teachers still need to be paid,” she said, and teachers are still posting activities online to keep students entertained.
Some daycare centers have extensive waiting lists. Requiring parents to pay tuition even when facilities services are not being used, such as when a family goes on vacation, is a way of reserving students’ places, Cohens said.
“I hope that, due to the situation we are in, they were a little more empathetic,” he said, “but I can’t even imagine the number of people who are probably still paying for this spot.”