By Travis Measley | Published Sunday, June 28, 2009
By the start of the 2009-2010 school year, Bridgeport ISD will offer another enticing benefit for parents employed by the district: a districtwide daycare program.
Superintendent Eddie Bland brought the idea of a daycare for Bridgeport ISD, similar to the daycare service Decatur ISD provides, to the school board at the beginning of the summer, and the board gave Bland the green light to hire a daycare provider for the coming fall.
The district contracted with the Learning Ladder, a daycare service based in Decatur, to provide child supervision for infants up to children entering pre-k during weekly working hours once school begins in August.
"I am very excited to be expanding our business into Bridgeport, where we have been wanting to work for a while," said Anna Nicholas, owner of the Learning Ladder. "The set-up will be very similar to what we offer to parents in the Decatur school district. It should work very well."
The Learning Ladder has been Decatur ISD's daycare provider for five years.
During the spring semester, Bridgeport administrators sent a survey to district employees, to determine if the demand for a daycare was enough to justify the program.
"We received a lot of positive feedback from our survey of parents saying they would be very interested in a district daycare," said assistant superintendent Bill Thetford. "Working with the Learning Ladder, we have been able to secure a reduced weekly price for our parents as well, which is a plus."
The daycare will be in the old Bridgeport agriculture building, that is being remodeled by district staff this summer. Because the Learning Ladder will be using a district building, which they are renting at a reduced price, Nichols said they are able to offer reduced rates.
There will be a $25 registration fee for each child. Infants to age 23 months will be $120 a week, 2-year-olds to 3-year-olds will be $90, and children older than 3 up to pre-k will be $80. Also, there is a $10 disount for each additional child registered after the first within a family.
Because the Learning Ladder is a licensed daycare provider, the district will not shoulder any liability, a detail Thetford said is a plus. Nicholas said she has not been able to determine how many employees will man the daycare and won't be able to make a decision until she is given an accurate count of children from the district.
