BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Bradford School Board members approved a lease for the Rainbow Center facility to Episcopal Children’s Services, now known as ECS4Kids, at the June 16 meeting.
Superintendent Will Hartly announced last month ECS4Kids would be taking over operations at the Rainbow Center from the school district. He said its too difficult to break even running a daycare center and paying employees fairly without gouging parents and guardians on the price.
The initial term of the lease is July 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2027, with one-year renewal options at the discretion of the school board. ECS4Kids will pay $500 a month for the approximately 7,890 square-foot space, which includes classrooms, offices, a kitchen, storage area and restrooms for students and staff. ECS4Kids will also pay for general liability insurance, operational expenses and the cost of any improvements.
Hartley said the lease was the next step needed for ECS4Kids to move forward with its plans to continue the operation of a daycare center at the site. He said ECS4Kids will send a team to walk the property and evaluate what they need to do to get the daycare up and running.
The goal remains to be open in August, he said, so it will be a busy few weeks. ECS4Kids will have to hire staff as well as enroll families.
“They want to start when we start. They’re going to go by the same calendar that we use at the district. So, they’re trying everything that they can do to make it as parent friendly as possible, and especially for our school staff,” Hartley said. That should include extended hours, opening earlier in the morning and closing later in the evening.
Beyond the cost of operating a daycare center, the superintendent said ECS4Kids’ world revolves around early childcare and school readiness.
“I expect that they’re going to make some good changes down there, and I think the parents will be happy. And there’s anticipation that a lot of our people that work down there are going to remain with Episcopal, so I think that transition will be smooth for the parents and the kids both,” he said.
New school year
The first day of school is Aug. 12. Hiring is still underway, although Hartley said there are fewer vacancies this year than in year’s past. As of Tuesday, 21 teaching positions were listed online. Many were for ESE teachers, with a few middle school science and social studies positions, and various elementary school posts. Three were replacements for the nursing and welding instructional staff at the technical college.
With districts around Bradford cutting positions, he said the vacancies should be filled quickly. Many will be highly qualified people who were let go because of staff reductions.
“I think we’ll be able to sure up those with some good, certified teachers, and a lot of that has been hard in the past. It used to be 20 years ago, when I first started, that you were competing with 20 or 30 people for a job, and now you’re lucky if you can find one certified applicant for a position. And so, with what’s going on around us, I think this is going to open the door for us to pick up some good, qualified people,” he said.
Hartley also predicts school enrollment will continue to increase.
“We looked at the conference report that came out Friday. They have us projected to go up a little bit, and we saw that throughout the year last year,” he said.
Cuts in other districts are resulting from declining enrollment.
“I don’t want to jinx myself, but we’re in a good spot right now,” he said.
