It's good that things are no longer up in the air for the Tracy Kid's World child care center, Kid's World Director Deb Huffman said this week. The Tracy School Board's vote to purchase the building the center occupies and rent space for daycare answers a lot of questions that have been hanging over Kid's World staff and clients alike.
"It's nice to have something actually set in place and decided," Huffman said this week. Enrollment at the child care center had dropped this winter, mostly because of uncertainties on whether the center could remain open.
On Monday, members of the school board voted unanimously to purchase the Kid's World property for $90,000, plus a total of about $75,000 in back taxes. The district intends to use some of the space, while renting out space for Kid's World.
The arrangement with the school will be "kind of a win-win situation for everyone," Huffman said. Tracy Elementary will be able to have additional space for preschool and special education, and Head Start and Kid's World will continue to operate in the building. Members of the Tracy School Board also pointed out, prior to voting on the issue, that having local child care options also benefits the school district by bringing potential students to Tracy.
The child care center had faced foreclosure in 2011 because it could not make payments on a $1.2 million loan from the USDA. Kid's World had planned on closing by the end of December. When the school district began considering an offer to buy the building, child care was extended through the month of January. But by that time, Huffman said, many client families had already begun to look for new daycare.
Enrollment at Kid's World has shrunk to 29 children, compared to 65 last year, Huffman said.
Huffman said it will likely take a couple of months for Kid's World to rebuild. Once the sale of the building is finalized, one of the first steps will be to recruit families, she said.
Tracy Superintendent Loy Woelber said this week that from the school district's side, the next step will be to follow through with purchasing the building from Rural Development. Woelber said he hoped the district could close on the building within the next 60 days.
The question of whether Kid's World will need to keep paying property taxes is not quite settled yet. According to a decision from the Minnesota Department of Revenue earlier this month, Kid's World is still a taxable entity, and would pay property taxes on the portion of the building it leases from the school district. However, Huffman said Kid's World will "definitely" be appealing that decision, after developing a scholarship program for children or families who meet certain criteria.