Day Care Rules

You are not out of line in asking them at all. You are paying for two days and if they close one day, whatever the reason, they should let you take him a different day instead. Sometimes daycares just think about what's better for them, and I've seen some where the teachers are just lazy, instead of being fare to the people that take their kids to their place so they can have good business. If I were you I would take my son on Friday since I already talked to the teacher and the front desk.

i don't think you were out of line to ask, but i also don't think they're out of line to say no. i pay for a two day a week mother's day out, we missed both days this week. i certainly don't expect them to allow him to join the mon/wed classes next week to make up for it. bad weather happens, it's just one of those things.

I think if the Director gave you the OK then it should be fine. I used to work in daycare and, as the teacher, I never got the choice of having the last say in whether or not a child attend a certain day. The director is the one that usually makes that call. I'm not sure what type of daycare he goes to though. Maybe they work it differently and give the teachers more say? Anyway, I think if you payed for 2 days then you should get 2 days, unless it is a ratio thing and there would be too many kids that day per teacher.

They schedule staff according to how many kiddos they have there on a particular day for those people who are not full time....so yes, switching days can put them in a pickle...especially if they are close to the child-caregiver ratio for their licensing. That is why they don't generally allow make-ups.

I agree that it's probably the staffing ratio as well as setting precedent. If Friday is the slow day, they may have fewer staff on and have to make sure that they have enough teachers to accommodate an extra child. It's definitely not a call that the teacher can make, and she may be thinking that if they let your child come in, then they would have to let other children in the same situation come in as well, etc. The other thing is that daycare centers rely heavily on routine (it's the only way to get through the day) so having a child in the classroom who is not normally there can mess up the other little kids. It's not the end of the world, obviously, but there are many good reasons for trying to keep everyone to their agreed-upon schedule.

That said, I used to ask every now and again to add an extra day for one of my children if their other care provider (my mom) was unavailable on a day that they normally would have been with her and if other children were scheduled to be out that day, the director would allow my children to go but it was a decision that she would have to make. So I don't think it was out of line to ask, but there are valid reasons for them to say no. Also, the "I paid for 2 days I should get 2 days" doesn't really work, unfortunately. The center probably still had to pay their teachers even though the center was closed. It's lousy, for sure, but I pay for daycare whether or not my kids actually go and that's just the way it is.

My Mom runs a daycare and if the child misses, she still gets payed, if she misses she doesnt get paid. Its not your fault they closed for whatever reason, they should have done that as a courtesy to you. Though, they may have looked at it like you only take him twice a week, where they resumed normally with their full-timers as usual...Not cool in my book.

You didnt miss on your account, then ask for THEM to make up for it. I think you were perfectly entitled to your request.

If I paid for two days a week, I would expect to get my two days. Otherwise, yes, I would expect some sort of credit or "free day."

I do not think you were out of line at all, but i can also see the daycares point of view. If they have multiple part time kids and suddenly parents want to start switching days that would not be good. It would get very confusing and im not sure how that works with the state and having kids thier on days they are not contracted with. My kids go to an inhome daycare part time and thier provider will work with us when need be but we have to stick to the scheduale. If she were to let us switch days and someone from the state made a surprise visit and there was a kid there on a day that they are not contracted for she could get in trouble. They may not want you doing it for legal reasons like that also and its one of those senerios where another parent may say you let so and so switch days last week so why cant i this week. I totally get what your saying and they should not be rude about it but they may just not be able to do it.

They should have a set policy about how this works. They may have agreed only because inclement weather was the cause. I totally get why they wouldn't want to agree to this. It does set a precedent about "make-up" days, and once that is set it's very hard to accommodate everyone who asks or say no to anyone. How will any of the families who pay and attend full-time be compensated for the day? Weather happens, and you're essentially getting a extra day that others won't because they aren't part-time and don't have the flexibility to switch a day.

I take full-time and part-time schedules in my daycare. It isn't about money or being lazy to accommodate requests like this, it's about fairness to everyone, and keeping the ratios in line with licensing standards.

I don't think it was wrong of you to ask... how are you to know unless there's a clear policy. It doesn't sounds like there is.

no, you were not out of line. you deserve. Although, I will say, most day cares have policies saying that they don't have to grant you any make up day regardless of the reason your child is not there (even if they are closed). But, they should be reasonable with you. That is good that they agreed to it!

They probably schedule staff based on the kids that are scheduled to attend on a specific day. What does their handbook/policy say about make ups? If it says they don't do make ups, you probably shouldn't have pushed the issue but you could have asked if you could pay for Friday.

I get that you pay for two days and were otherwise getting just 1 but the parents who pay for 5 were only getting 4 and not able to get a make up day. Also, since you didn't need childcare that day it was out of line if it wasn't their standard policy.

If it's a center, then it should be up to the director and they should have a formal policy. I would ask the director about this, not the front desk, not a teacher. I would not expect a make up day. I would understand that they don't want to set a precedent of switching days around.

I work in a day care and since you are paying for two days a week and didn't go on Wednesday you are not asking for an extra day just to change days. We allow this all the time, and since Friday's are their lowest numbered day it should be no problem. You pay for day care you should get all the days you pay for! You tell them this!!!!! Let us know what happens

My daughter has always gone full-time, so I've never had experience with how they handle this type of situation. I pay whether she is sick or they are closed... lol

The caregiver-child ratio was my guess too. You say Fridays are their slowest day & that there aren't too many kids, but is the same number of teachers there on Fridays?

Maybe you can speak to the director again and have them explain so that you will know in the future.

With most daycares if you have set days, they don't like you to change. It works the same way with my daughter's daycare. Honestly I don't see what the big deal is but it seems to be an issue with most. With my daycare you have to pay whether they are closed due to the weather or my child is ill and not there. Yeah it stinks and isn't fair but guess they have to have set rules to avoid any confusion etc cause each kid has a different schedule.