Janie’s Playhouse Day Care Center has had a hard time keeping up with essential supplies during the pandemic but since day care centers already have preventative healthcare screening in place not much changed in that arena.
What did change is the increase in enrollment and bonus pay.
The center accepted two new children of essential workers and said that people need to call to check for availability.
“I feel like things are opening too fast because we get CDC numbers. When the county opens, we don’t know who was exposed,” owner Janie Stubbs said.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services published guidelines covering preventative measures during the pandemic which are already in place for children’s day care facilities.
Janie’s Playhouse Day Care Center is at 608 Keyser St. in Aberdeen and accepts subsidized care payments.
In April and May, the state increased subsidized care by $200 per age group. The four age groups are infant, two-year-olds, three-five, and six-year-olds.
Teacher bonus pay from the state is $950 for full-time employees and non-teachers receive $525. Part-time teacher bonus pay is $475 and non-teachers receive $262.50.
Grace Christian Child Development Center (GCCDC) in Sanford serves over 400 children and employs 80 teachers and staff. The center accepted several new children of essential workers.
A representative said that the staff also follow preventative protocol screening for illness before entry.
“In the beginning of the pandemic, I was a little concerned. But when I saw all that was being done by our leadership team to protect the staff and children, my anxiety disappeared. I know that none of this takes the Lord by surprise. He continues to provide, and the additional bonus and premium we are receiving is just an added benefit in doing what I love to do anyway,” Pre-school teacher Alyssa Davis said.
GCCDC is located at 2603 Jefferson Davis Highway and 119 Log Cabin Lane in Sanford.
Centers have had to cancel seasonal field trips and family cookouts as part of the preventative protocol, but the security offered by routine and normalcy has not changed.
Written by Sandhills Sentinel Journalism Intern Stephanie M. Sellers.
Contributed photo.
