I am writing to you as a concerned Director/Owner of Bright Tomorrows Learning Center Inc. I have been in the child care field for 34 years now. Our center remained opened under the Emergency License helping the essential workers. Only 3 centers stayed open when the governor put this in place.
Our normal capacity is for 78 children, under the Emergency License we were allowed 56 children. On a daily basis we would have 30. With the Governor putting in place phase 3 and 4 now our daycare will be losing 8 families that we already have current in our daycare because of the new guidelines that he is recommending. We are required to have 50 square feet per child including having them sleep 6 feet apart from each other during nap-time.
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This is not feasible for us to do without decreasing the amount of children we have on our Emergency License. Both teachers and children are required to face mask, shoe coverings or bring a pair of shoes that you can change into. I have teachers that have had panic attacks trying to wear a face mask including myself. Try keeping a face mask on a 2 year old. That isn't happening. They take it right off or they cry. Some children or scared of them.
If this remains in place I will end up losing my business and all my families.I have researched numbers of daycare's that have tested positive for covid-19. Texas has been the only state and there are 11,094 day care centers in Texas and only 25 teachers and 32 children had tested positive.
I have parent's who are returning back to work and I cannot even take their children under these new guidelines. This is not only affecting our daycare but many others will be forced to close their doors as well as me. Something has to be done. I am asking your help to put it out their that this is unfair to daycare's in Illinois.
- Patricia Dooley
Patricia A.Dooley Director/Owner Bright Tomorrows Learning Center Inc. 5518 Godfrey Road Godfrey, Il. 62035 (618)466-2100 info@brighttomorrowslc.com
