SMSU closing infant/toddler day care

By month's end, a handful of Southwest Missouri State University students will have to find alternative day care for their children.

Facing a budget deficit and high staff turnover, Southwest Missouri State University officials have decided to eliminate the school's infant/toddler child-care program July 31, according to a university news release.

"We have been carefully reviewing this situation for some time and we feel discontinuing the program is in the best interest of the infants and toddlers in the program because we simply cannot afford to provide the level of excellence that they deserve ... for the price that we believe students can afford," said Bruno Schmidt, SMSU vice president for academic affairs.

University officials arrived at the decision in late June and have apologized for the short, 35-day notice.

"Ideally, we would have preferred to give more notice," said Schmidt. "We certainly apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this has created."

The infant/toddler lab opened five years ago to provide SMSU students with a campus observation site as well as an on-campus day care for students' children who are less than 2 years old. The self-funded program has a deficit of $171,000, partially because rates are set to be affordable to students. However, only five of the 27 children enrolled in the lab belong to SMSU students, university officials noted.

"Because we charge a relatively low rate of $160 per week, the budget is extremely tight," Schmidt said. "Since the budget is tight, our salaries haven't been attractive enough to retain staff."

The program has experienced about 50 percent turnover. Nine positions will be eliminated.

"Staff turnover has created concerns about providing a consistent level of quality care. Add to that the university's overall budget situation and it became clear that we had a difficult decision to make," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the weekly fee would have to double to meet minimum acceptable standards. University officials believe this would make the service cost-prohibitive to SMSU students, the program's initial and primary audience.

The sudden notice was given for three reasons, according to the university:

SMSU is required to give staff at least 30 days notice;

parents of six of the 27 children currently in the program have already indicated that they would not be returning because they have reached the age maximum, 2 years old, or have made other arrangements; and

since the current staffing is not at the maximum, the number of staff impacted is at the lowest possible level.

The university's child development lab, which serves approximately 64 children ages 3 and 4, continues to operate.