Olympia School District assessment shows families are not satisfied with early learning options 

The Olympia School District’s Community Needs and Capacity Assessment (CoNCA) showed that families of children ages 5 years old and younger are not fully satisfied with early learning options, with cost as the biggest barrier to access. 

The assessment is part of the Olympia School District's (OSD) effort to utilize a $60,000 Child Care Partnership Grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce. 

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is completely satisfied and 1 is not at all satisfied, 58 percent of families who participated in the assessment answered 3, 48 percent answered 2 and 41 percent answered 1. 

“On the whole, families are not fully satisfied with the early learning options that are available, so that indicates that there might be a market need that's unmet there or a discrepancy in between that …supply and demand,” said OSD Early Learning Coordinator Thomas Parnell. 

When asked about barriers to accessing quality early learning options, 81.8 percent of families cited cost. 

“Cost can be a proxy for all these other factors in a way, but it did lead us to believe that anything that we could do to bring the cost down for families would be something that would be most meeting the need of our community,” Parnell said. 

Other barriers include program schedule (52.4 percent), program quality (44.1 percent), distance (36.5 percent) and program setting (19.4 percent). 

Parnell also said families are interested in a full week working day coverage schedule for early learning programs, and there is a variety of what kind of care is being sought. 

Families also care more about general development.

“If you ask families about what they're looking for in an early learning model, the main thing that they care about is that it's supporting their child's development, someone's keeping track of how their kid is doing and making sure that there's developmentally supportive routines that are in place,” Parnell said. 

Families were also asked about the amount of money they are willing to spend on early learning. That was done to see if the figures align with what providers are charging for tuition or what the discrepancy is, and what the district can do to help bridge that gap. 

Several families need free or low-cost programming, while several others are also willing to pay the market rate. Parnell said the district can expand other subsidized programs to meet needs, and there might also be an opportunity to help bring the cost down for a variety of different families. 

Around 63 percent of early learning providers are interested in expansion, while 57.7 percent are considering a full week schedule. Provider tuition varies depending on the number of hours per day, days per week and income eligibility. 

Facilities and staffing appeared as the major challenges early learning providers face, not enrollment.  

“Not having to or getting support with upkeep and maintenance of a site would be extremely helpful. Schools tend to be more compliant with DCYF (Washington's Department of Children, Youth, and Families) licensing standards than, say, a house, and so it might ease their licensing burden a little bit there,” Parnell said. 

The assessment stated providers specifically want adequate bathrooms for children attached to the classroom, space to prepare food, direct access to an outdoor play area and preparation space for activities.