Families ‘desperately’ need after-school care, but 30% of PBC schools have waitlists. Why?

The Palm Beach Post | By Katherine Kokal | September 16, 2024

At around $260 a month, Palm Beach County’s school district offers a more affordable after-school option. But the programs are also facing a ‘perfect storm.’

After the final school bell rings and students across Palm Beach County are released for the day, more than 14,000 elementary students don’t go straight home. Instead, they participate in after-school care programs where they get homework help and play games with classmates until their parents can pick them up.

At around $260 per month, Palm Beach County’s school district offers one of the least expensive forms of after-school childcare in the county, where private care can cost up to $500 per month. But increasing demand and difficulties in hiring staff has led to waiting lists at 30% of aftercare sites, according to the district.

“There is a community-wide and nationwide staff shortage, and District after-school program directors continue actively recruiting to fill open positions,” the district said in a written statement.

Waiting lists leave parents who don’t sign up in time scrambling for other affordable after-school options where their children will be safe and cared for.

“When parents can’t get into their first choice at a subsidized, public center, they either go to private childcare or they’re home with (a family member) or they’re home alone,” said Charles Smith, the director of research at Prime Time Palm Beach County, a nonprofit that focuses on training after-school professionals.

“You’ve got inconsistency. You either go pay a lot of money or you try to make it work at home. If parents are really worried about their children, they have a hard time staying focused at work.”

Jupiter Elementary School students are assisted by a crossing guard on there way to school in August 2019. Elementary schools are facing increased demand for pre-school and after-school care for students.

After-school care faces ‘perfect storm’ of hiring difficulties, increased demand by parents

Eric Weiss, the parent of a first grader at J.C. Mitchell Elementary in Boca Raton, said his daughter was lucky to get into the school’s after-school care program because he made it a point to sign her up before the end of last school year.

Weiss said after-school care is crucial to allowing him and his wife, Michelle Licudine, to finish their work for the day and spend quality time in the evening with their daughter.

“Especially with elementary getting out so early, that’s in the middle of the work day for most parents,” Weiss said. “It’s difficult to juggle a 6 year old and concentrating on a job you’re trying to get done. You can sit them in front of the TV, but we don’t want to do that.”

Kasha​​​​ Kitts, the director of program performance at the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, said after-school care programs have always been popular, but the post-pandemic spike in the cost of living and fewer people interested in careers in childcare have combined to create staffing strain.

She called the current situation a “perfect storm.”

“As we’ve come out of COVID, the trail of destruction that is left behind in increased costs and affordability in Palm Beach County has impacted the ability of childcare providers to recruit and retain qualified staff,” Kitts said. “Because of the rising costs, staff may have decided that Palm Beach County may not be the best place for them to be.”

ZipRecruiter lists the average salary for a childcare worker in West Palm Beach at just $16 per hour. The school district pays after-school employees between $15.64 per hour and $25 per hour depending on the person’s title. In addition, most after-school counselors work part time, Katts said.

“(There are) families who desperately need access to out of school care,” she said. “There have been waiting lists forever, but the conditions leading to the waitlists have currently changed.”

Students line up in the cafeteria at Grove Park Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens in August 2024. Elementary schools are facing increased demand for pre-school and after-school care for students.

After-school program waitlists extend to summer camps

Although Weiss was happy to get his daughter into J.C. Mitchell’s aftercare program for the school year, he said he nearly missed out on sending her to the summer camp run by the aftercare program because it was so sought after by parents.

“We dragged our feet a bit, so by the time we decided we wanted her to go (to summer camp), they told us they were full,” Weiss said. “That summer camp was really popular. It’s a really good program, considering some of the private programs are far more expensive.”

After another family dropped out, Weiss’ daughter was able to attend summer camp run by J.C. Mitchell with all her friends from aftercare.

He’s thankful.

When it came time to host his daughter’s birthday party, Weiss said several of the children invited were friends she only knew from after-school care despite the fact that they went to the same school.