Little Outlaw childcare program seeking home

The problem of finding future space for the Little Outlaw Learning Center has turned upside down in recent weeks.

Originally it was thought that the child care center, which operates in the Sisters Middle School building, would have to move out in June because fifth graders will be moving into the school in the fall, taking space now used by the center. This prospect caused advocates of the center in October to ask the school board to consider letting it use the district-owned building on Highway 126 that now houses The Little Cloverdale Preschool.

Since then, however, Superintendent Ted Thonstad has discovered that it would be possible to remodel the middle school in a way that would accommodate fifth graders while still leaving room for the Little Outlaw center. But Sarina Henderson, who runs the center, told board members and Thonstad by e-mail in mid-November that she intends to move the center elsewhere.

Thonstad sent a reply to Henderson’s letter inviting her to contact him so they could set up a meeting to discuss the situation. But as of early this week he had not heard from her. Nor has she responded to a phone message from The Nugget.

After first hearing about the problem in October, the school board said it would try to come up with a solution by its regular December meeting, which is scheduled for December 12.

Thonstad said late last week that he still hopes to have a discussion with Henderson before the board meets. He said he plans to recommend that the operation be allowed to continue in its present location.

“We can do a remodel…that will allow the day care program to stay there for at least two years” and possibly longer, depending on future growth of the fifth grade population, he said.

The superintendent also said he would not recommend moving the Little Outlaw center to the Cloverdale building, not just because that would disrupt the preschool now using the facility but because it would be too far away for appropriate use by parents with infants who work in Sisters.

The Little Outlaw center was established in 2003-04 primarily to provide day care to the children of school employees. The school board agreed to provide the space at low cost as a benefit for teachers and other employees, even though it insisted that Henderson operate as a sole proprietor not sponsored or employed by the school district. One of the main advantages of Henderson’s center is that it is licensed and staffed to care for children under three, while other child care operations in the area are licensed to care only for children age three and over.

According to information provided in October, the Little Outlaw center cares for 18 children of 12 Sisters School District employees. In addition, it enrolls 16 children of parents who are not district employees.

Thonstad said he feels the center is “a good thing” and an asset to the school system that helps attract and retain teachers. But he also thinks the board needs to have another look at the $100-a-month rent the district charges for this 1,400 square feet of middle school space. He says the rent may need to be adjusted, although he has no figure in mind.

“The rent doesn’t have to be market (level), but it needs to be reasonable in terms of the cost of providing the space,” he said.

He acknowledged that those involved with the center have taken care of remodeling, equipping and maintaining the space.

The question of the appropriateness of the district’s rent subsidy for a private operation was raised by board members at a recent meeting. Henderson addressed the issue in her letter:

“I did not request the rent amount we currently pay, but understood the low rent was a trade for the childcare center to provide priority enrollment, affordable rates and hold spaces without payment for school district employees. Taking this into consideration, I don’t feel that it is fair to say the school district has…subsidized my business.”

She pointed out that she holds spaces for district employees during vacations, including the summer months, when school is out and many of the employees don’t need child care. But her letter added: “As a direct result of the school district’s mishandling of this issue, I will be relocating my childcare center as soon as possible from its current space inside the middle school property. When I move, I will no longer be able to provide school district employees priority enrollment and saved enrollment space during the summer months and school breaks without tuition payments.”

For his part, Thonstad said last week, “I think the issue has gotten controversial and it didn’t need to be. It’s causing harm to people and I don’t like to cause harm to people. Somehow we need to try to repair the damage, or at least try to get some understanding. It got started in the wrong way and it’s gone downhill ever since…”