DE parents frustrated with lack of access to affordable neighborhood preschools 

Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware does not have universal pre-K, which is publicly funded preschool for 3- to 5-year-olds. As a result, many parents look to local licensed preschool centers or their school districts to help prepare their children for kindergarten. But some parents say access to high-quality preschool is limited and often too expensive. 

Ashley Mitchell, a mother of six children who lives in Delmar, has been searching for preschool for two of her children for more than two years. 

When she began her search, she was turned away from nearby preschool programs because they would not accept children under 4 years old. She has a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, and she says both are ready for preschool. 

Mitchell later crossed the state line into Maryland where she finally found a Head Start program in Salisbury, Maryland. But she learned there were separate locations for each of her children because they were not in the same age group. 

Logistically, it was a nightmare, Mitchell said, because her family would have to make stops  at two different locations while fitting it all into work schedules. 

Left with no feasible option, Mitchell instead decided to hire a Salisbury University professor to work as a nanny. It was a solution, but only a short-term one, she said. The nanny will go back to the university at the start of the fall semester. 

In all, Mitchell called the ongoing search for childcare “a huge disruption.” The lack of access creates frustration for the family, she said. 

“If you have multiple children, it’s like there’s almost no point of even working if you have to pay for school, because you would literally just be working just to pay for preschool,” Mitchell said.

Because of her ongoing search, Mitchell has considered an alternative. Using her background in education, she plans to open her own at-home preschool and create her own curriculum. 

Mitchell’s struggle with trying to find an affordable, high-quality preschool near her home is not unique. 

Multiple families spoke to Spotlight Delaware about what they said was a lack of adequate and affordable preschools throughout the state. Many also pointed toward an inability to take their children to preschool because the centers did not provide transportation and the hours interfered with work schedules.

All of the parents stressed they wanted to make the choice that would best prepare their children for kindergarten. But that was often an elusive one.

“Your children are some of the most important people in your life, and when you can’t find stability for them because of the lack of access, it creates frustration,” Mitchell said. 

Balancing work and play-based learning

Tuition for preschools in Delaware vary depending on the facility. Some families may pay over $300 per week, while others may pay closer to $100. 

Those hefty costs can then double for parents with multiple children enrolled in a preschool. 

And even while in preschool, the facility’s hours can interfere with working hours, some parents said.

Preschool operating hours can be a dealbreaker for some parents considering whether to enroll their children.

Michael Brennan, a parent within the Red Clay Consolidated School District, said he pays $575.50 per week for his two children to attend their daycare. Although his family would be able to save some money if the oldest child attended the school district’s preschool, Brennan and his wife did not consider applying because of the operating hours. 

The Early Years program at Red Clay typically operates from 9:05 a.m. until 3:50 p.m., according to the district’s website. 

When no transportation is provided, parents need to find a way to bring their children to the district’s preschool without disrupting their own traditional workdays. 

“How does a working family, two people who are working with kids, say, ‘Okay, yeah, we can get them there at 9 and pick them up at 3 without other arrangements?’” Brennan said.

Brennan and his wife ultimately chose to have his 4-year-old daughter remain in her daycare, which has its own preschool teacher, for another year until she is ready for kindergarten.

‘Go to work to pay for daycare’

Other Delaware families have had to re-evaluate whether it is really feasible for both parents to work full-time.

When DeJ’a Crippen started looking at preschools near Georgetown for her infant daughter, Raina, she quickly realized few centers would provide services for a 1-year-old.

Crippen said the family was able to find some preschools that would offer services to 2-year-olds, but was told there was a nearly eight-month-long waitlist. Many of those preschools were too expensive, she said.  

Crippen said her family is trying to apply to affordable preschools, despite the long waitlists. For now, she has enrolled Raina in a part-time, at-home daycare. 

Like Brennan and Mitchell, Crippen noted that daycare is another hefty expense for her family, even with only one child. 

“It would be nice to work full time, but I do feel like working full time and having her daycare full time, you just go to work to pay for daycare,” Crippen said. 

Still, Crippen said she hopes to enroll Raina in a preschool as soon as availability opens up when she is 2- or 3-years-old because she wants her daughter to be as prepared for kindergarten as possible. 

‘I thought it was just me’

Meesha Rawley’s son started daycare when he was 1 year old. 

Three years later, Rawley said she feels at a “crossroads” between deciding whether to keep her son at his daycare or send him to a faith-based preschool program that would be more strict than what he is used to.

Rawley lives in the Capital School District and feels her only options for preschool, aside from daycares that also offer it, are private centers that she believes would cost her family more.

While faith is important to her family, Rawley said she does not believe it belongs in his school. 

Still, she had to determine what would be the best fit for her son, and what would prepare him the most for kindergarten. 

“[Children] don’t come with handbooks, so it’s all up to us to figure it out,” she said. 

Rawley is not the only parent who has considered enrolling their child in a faith-based program, despite not wanting religion in the classroom. 

Although her daughter turns five this year, Alli Watkins was unable to enroll her in the Red Clay Consolidated School District’s preschool program. Instead, Watkins’ daughter will remain in her daycare center’s preschool class at a local church. 

Watkins, like Rawley, did not want her daughter’s education to be in a religious setting but decided the center was the best option for her family. 

Since she has been enrolled, Watkins said her daughter has learned important information like her full name and address, and has also started learning how to read and understand basic math lessons. 

While Watkins is confident in the daycare’s ability to prepare her daughter for kindergarten, she said the overall process was frustrating and isolating.

“I thought it was just me experiencing this confusion and frustration in navigating how to get my child into an early childhood education center,” she said.