By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Oct. 8, 2020) Maryland childcare providers can return to full capacity, State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Salmon announced last Thursday at a press conference with Gov. Larry Hogan.

“For the last six months, capacity limits have been in place for childcare providers as a mitigation tool to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” Salmon said. “In working with the Maryland Department of Health, we have seen very few positive covid cases in our childcare facilities, likely due to the rigorous health and safety guidance implemented by the childcare community from the beginning of the pandemic.”

In June, the capacity was increased from 10 to 15 children per room.

Childcare centers can now serve up to 20 three- and four-year-olds in a room with a teacher-student ratio of 1:10 and up to 30 school-aged students with a teacher-student ratio of 1:15.

“We have heard very clearly from many parents and providers who have written and called me, that we return to licensed capacity to meet the needs of working families and prevent the closure of childcare centers once it could be done safely,” Salmon said. “I am hopeful this announcement effectively complements local school system efforts to bring students back into the classroom and provides more working families with access to safe childcare programs.”

Childcare facilities must continue to follow federal and state safety guidance to prevent exposure to covid-19.

Sandra Buckwalter, the director and CEO of Eastern Shore Early Learning Academy, is excited that childcare centers can open to full capacity, but she doubts she will reach the maximum capacity of 88 to 90 children at her facility.

“I just wish the parents felt comfortable sending kids,” she said. “So many are still afraid to send their kids.”

Currently, about 50 children from six weeks to 12 years old are enrolled at Eastern Shore Early Learning Academy off Worcester Highway in Berlin.

When Worcester and Wicomico Counties started virtual learning, Buckwalter said 26 children engaged in distance learning at her facility.

“We now have five that went back to school, and we have one more starting back to school in two weeks,” she said.

She added that another child will return to school in Wicomico County soon. Children at Buckwalter’s center attend four of the public schools in Worcester County and three of the public schools in Wicomico County.

“Parents need to understand we’re taking all the measures, that it is safe,” Buckwalter said. “We’ve been blessed not to have to worry about closing down for anything. None of my kids have been sick.”

Children’s temperatures are taken in the morning before they enter the center and children ages three and up as well as the staff are required to wear masks, she said.

“I purchase masks, and we’re keeping them clean. We’re not letting them leave the building,” she said. “Each child has their own set of masks. They have four masks with their own name on their own bag.”

The staff also records when children wash their hands, toys are sanitized and rooms are cleaned.

“We keep the younger children away from the older children,” Buckwalter added.

Buckwalter’s father built wooden table dividers with troughs to hold the children’s belongings, including soap, wipes, tissues and computers. She said the dividers can be repurposed as tabletop easels.

Children wipe down their desks when they arrive in the morning to ensure their space is clean.

“There’s only two [children] to a table anyway, and then the tables are six feet apart,” Buckwalter said.

Similarly, Coastal Early Learning Center off Seahawk Road in Berlin restricts seating to enforce social distancing among other safety measures, said Shelby Lewis, assistant director at the childcare center.

“Staff have to wear masks at all times while in the building,” Lewis said. “Also, we have a table out front where we do temperature checks and health screenings on all staff and students. We are currently not allowing anyone in the building who is not a staff or student.”

Within the classroom, the older students have the option to wear masks, she added.

Also, toys and equipment are more frequently sanitized, and students take hand washing breaks before and after mealtime, going outside and any time when they transition between activities.

Despite the daily prevention steps, Lewis is thankful for Salmon’s announcement that childcare centers, like Coastal Early Learning Center, can return to full capacity.

“I feel it’s almost a necessity as far as on the business side and being able to stay open and function,” she said. “On the children’s side, the extra sanitization and the social distancing and trying to keep up with all that is a little crazy as well. But, honestly, I would have to be more for us opening to full capacity.”

Currently, 69 children are enrolled at Coastal Early Learning Center.

Lewis said some of the children who are enrolled have not been back to the facility in a few months, but they remain on the roster because the parents are paying.

“Honestly, the majority of our children did come back within the first few months,” she said.

The childcare center serves children from six weeks to six years old, but not all children attend Coastal Early Learning Center full time.

Lewis added that the center has a waitlist because parents are looking for options other than public school pre-K and kindergarten programs.

“We do not have any virtual learners at our facility,” Lewis said. “We actually were never equipped for school-aged students, even on a regular based school year. We do offer a kindergarten program, but our older classes are three to six years old and it’s a mixed-age group. We’re a Montessori school, so things are a little different here than in normal daycares.”

Coastal Early Learning Center has closed for two weeks twice during the pandemic because of potential exposures.

Two staff members, a student and a parent contracted the coronavirus this summer, but fortunately did not have severe symptoms. Lewis said they all recovered well.

“They did have to test negative to come back, but we all were tested and [everyone’s test came back] negative,” she said.

The building was closed for two weeks twice following guidance from the health department about the reports, and it was sanitized both times.

“Before that, I will say, it was not required for the staff to wear masks at all times with the children,” Lewis added.

About a month ago, a staff member at Little Lambs Learning Center on Racetrack Road in Berlin contracted the coronavirus.

“We were fortunate in that she was already not here. She was already off,” said Jocelyn Snelsire, director of the center. “We had been closed for a couple days to do a deep cleaning, and everything kind of worked itself out. She quarantined. It was about a three-week process, though, if you have anybody that’s a close contact or a confirmed case.”

Snelsire said the timeframe for children to be symptom-free of the coronavirus has also been increased.

“Normally, it’s 24 hours if a child has a fever or diarrhea or vomiting or any symptom of any kind,” Snelsire said. “Due to covid, we’ve increased that incubation period to 48 hours. So, if a child does develop any symptoms here, they have to be out for 48 hours with no medicine before they can return. Same with staff.”

Staff and children over the age of five wear face coverings at all times at Little Lambs Learning Center. Younger children are encouraged to wear masks as well.

Children take frequent hand-washing breaks, especially around meal and play times.

Additionally, staff wear gloves when handling food.

Little Lambs Learning Center provides the staff extra time to disinfect the classrooms as well as the playgrounds.

“We’re trying to social distance the best we can in classrooms,” Snelsire said. “The kids are learning it pretty well.”

Snelsire added that children are arranged into cohorts, where select classrooms may combine at certain parts of the day.

“So, if there were a confirmed case in the building, it would potentially only have to affect that cohort and not the whole center,” she said.

Currently, parents are not allowed into the building. There is a check-in station at the entrance of the facility, where staff members take the temperature of the children. Parents must answer health screening questions as well.

“We actually have an app that is super helpful,” Snelsire said. “[Parents] can actually check their kids in on their phone and complete the health screenings on their phone and log their temperatures and everything without having to touch anything but their own personal phone.”

Then, children wash their hands and staff members guide children to their classrooms.

Parents sign up for pick-up slots at dismissal.

Snelsire is excited about returning to full capacity in the classrooms.

“Until last Thursday, we could not have more than 15 people, which included our staff, in any one room or group,” she said.

Now, the center will return to having 20 children and two teachers per classroom.

“It’s nice, but it’s also going to be its own set of challenges because we’re still following our separate covid guidelines, which are requiring us to still try to maintain social distancing and all of the extra cleaning and things that we’ve already added into the program,” she said. “I think it’ll be a good thing; it’s just going to be another adjustment we make.”

Snelsire added that Little Lambs Learning Center has a year-long waitlist, even before covid restrictions.

“I’ve actually had some people who wanted to come back … that have been waiting to get back in until this announcement could happen, so that I could have some extra room to do that,” she said.

The maximum operational capacity at the facility is 140.

“I have more than that enrolled because they don’t all come every day,” Snelsire added. “I have 152 [children] enrolled right now.”

Little Lambs Learning Center serves children ages six weeks to 12 years old from Worcester County, Wicomico County and Sussex County, Delaware.

Roughly 35 school-aged children in kindergarten through fourth grade are engaged in virtual learning at the facility.

“It’s been challenging, but the schools have been really great to work with,” Snelsire said.

She added that her center usually offers a before- and after-school program for students, but the facility is unable to do that at this time because of the accommodations for children who are at the center for the full day.

“I don’t have enough staff to do both or enough rooms to do both,” Snelsire said. “So, that’s been a challenge for parents as well because their kids are being invited back to school, but schools start a little bit later.”

At this time, more than 82 percent of childcare providers in Maryland have reopened, Salmon said.

“Reopened programs will receive a one-time grant of $800 for family care providers and $1,600 for center-based childcare providers,” Salmon said. “These grants will be available through Oct. 31 of this year.”

In addition, the Maryland State Department of Education, is providing $1,000 in start-up grants to eligible, new family home care providers, Salmon said.