The North Greene School District is using an innovative way to attract and retain young teachers.
The district has been exploring since January a way to implement a daycare center for its staff members who have children aged six weeks through five years.
North Greene Superintendent Jackie Kuchy told the Greene Prairie Press in January says that with daycare extremely hard to come by in the North Greene area, that it would 1. help retain teachers and 2. open up spots at the few other area daycare facilities for other parents. Kuchy says its also a community service by trying to lessen the impact of the lack of childcare in the area.
According to the Journal Courier, the Little Spartans Educational Daycare is working through the approval process with the Illinois Department of Child & Family Services. Costs will be handled through a benefits deduction taken from North Greene School District employee paychecks who opt in to the service. Applications are available at the school district’s website.
The daycare will be located in the District Office, which is the former White Hall Grade School on Sherman Street. They are now in the process of moving the Bright Futures offices to another part of the building and the daycare will be located in that area of the building.
Kuchy says that some employees in the recent past have chosen to stay home and leave the district to raise their children instead of taking a teacher’s salary. She says the service will make financial sense to current employees and possibly attract new teachers to the district.