SALT LAKE CITY — Parents are not giving up after the Salt Lake County Council voted to cut funding for four county-run childcare centers in Magna, Kearns, Millcreek and Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood.
“We can't afford anywhere else, so if they do decide to have this closure, we're screwed,” said parent Jessica Earl.
“This is such a small cut to affect so many people. It just sucks, honestly,” echoed parent Mackenzie Miller.
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Parents rally as Salt Lake County considers funding cut to childcare centers
When it comes to the reason why these programs were cut, Councilwoman Natalie Pinkney said the Republican caucus believed those centers had low enrollment numbers and wanted to make budget cuts.
“There are a lot of interventions that we can do to make sure that we are covering the overhead costs and the operational costs of those child cares, knowing how beneficial it is to actually have more child care, not less child care in the county,” Pinkney said. "Fellow council members felt that it would be easier to close it rather than try to fix the problem.”
Parents believe there’s a reason behind the low enrollment.
“They are unfunded. They can't hire enough teachers because there's not enough money coming in. But they also aren't really advertising,” said parent Jefferson Curtis.
Miller uses the Magna center that is currently on the chopping block and said he won’t be able to afford other centers.
“Before they got into that one, we were driving them to South Jordan to in home daycare, and that was over $600 a month per child,” Miller said. "Everything's getting more expensive.”
Not only this, but parents said even if they could afford another center, there are waitlists.
“Every daycare we've been to, we've been on a waitlist, and even to Millcreek, we've been on a waitlist for at least six months,” said parent Jessica Ku.
Parents are already preparing if the centers officially get cut.
“We were looking at pulling back my 401K to afford another childcare,” Miller said. "It's either that or she wouldn't go to childcare at all. She would just be at home with me.”
Some parents, however, said they don’t have the other resources to turn to when it comes to watching their kids.
“My dad and my mom, they're both working. They love their grandkids, [but] they don't have time to watch them all the time,” Curtis said.
Parents told FOX 13 News they were even willing to pay more to make sure their kids stayed in the programs.
“Another thing that was proposed is to raise the prices of these childcare centers,” Earl said. "Just raise them by like, 20%, and a lot of the parents are saying, like, yes, that would be feasible. We just want our kids to stay here because it's a high-quality program.”
On Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Council will discuss logistics following their decision to cut, but Pinkney is encouraging parents to show up to see if the council will reconsider. If they don't, however, she’s already planning ahead.
“My office is working really closely with community services so that we can meet with these families, actually in person, to help them find and secure childcare for the end of this year and the remaining of next year as well,” Pinkney said.
In the meantime, parents are encouraging others to join the fight.
“Sign the petition and just get involved. Reach out to the mayor. The mayor can veto this. This is our key thing — the mayor needs to veto this motion,” Earl said.
The parents are signing the following petition, which can be found HERE.
That meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday morning at the Government Center.
FOX 13 News reached out to every member on the council but did not receive a response.
