Lisbon’s Early Childhood center rates will be slightly increasing this year.
The new rates go into effect Aug. 22.
Bre Ties, director of the center, noted she has taken a long look at these rates before raising them, and was looking to average a roughly 3 percent rate increase across the board.
“We want to make sure the service we’re providing is reflective of the market consumers are experiencing,” Ties said.
Ties noted that the rate increases will hit part time child care more significantly.
Creative Beginnings will increase from $215 week to $217 week and from $53 to $60 for a full day of drop-in care.
Explorers childcare (a one adult to six student ratio) will go from $195 a week or $47 a day for drop in care to $197 a week or $55 a day for drop in care.
Discovers/adventurers childcare rooms (a one adult to eight student ratio) will go from $177 a week and $44 a day for drop in care to $180 a week and $50 a day.
Preschool only childcare will go from $140 a month to $146 a month effective in 2023-24.
School age care will remain at $60 a week for before school childcare, but will increase to $64 per week for after only childcare. Before and after childcare will increase from $90 per week to $95. Childcare on a day with no school will increase from $16 per day to $17. Drop-in rates will also increase by $1.
Discover/adventurers summer childcare rates will increase from $182 per week for full-time childcare to $185. Drop-in childcare for one day will be $50 plus the field trip fee.
Pathfinders summer childcare will go from $174 a week to $178 for full time care and from $130 to $140 a week for part-time child care in the summer. Drop-in rate will be $48 a day plus field trip fee.
School age summer camp care will increase from $183 per week to $185 for full time childcare and from $152 per week to $158 for part-time childcare for people without a Mount Vernon swim pool pass.
The childcare center is also eliminating part-time childcare options for new or incoming families. Parents currently enrolled with LECC with an agreement for part-time childcare will be grandfathered in, but Ties noted it is something extremely difficult to plan for and staff, and was only introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic when the center’s numbers were much lower.
The center also removed half day drop-in rates for childcare.
The center will also be doing away with morning snack. Ties noted that there has to be a two hour time frame between meals, and while breakfast is served at the center, many students do not eat breakfast until roughly 7:45 a.m. By removing morning snack, Ties is hopeful this will also cut down on food waste at lunch.
The center will continue to offer two vacation weeks for half price childcare per year. If children are missing for five consecutive days, be that illness or vacation, those would count as vacation weeks.
“It’s sometimes hard to forget the LECC is a separate business than the school, and it needs to be run like a business, adhering to the elements of supply and demand,” Abbe Stensland said. “I think these changes are approaching the childcare the correct way.”