We applaud the Albert Lea school board and district staff for working to offer child care for district employees at Brookside Education Center.

The board on Monday approved an application to serve 64 children with two infant rooms, two toddler rooms and a preschool component. Broken down, the infant and toddler rooms would serve 44 children, while the preschool component would serve 20.

Once it is up and running, the program is expected to break-even by the second year.

The option would not only be a major bonus in helping to retain or attract district employees with young children, but it could also help alleviate some of what has been described as a child care crisis in the area.

This past spring, there were 370 children on a waiting list for child care in the community, and that number only continues to grow exponentially, with new births, some in-home providers retiring and some other young providers leaving the industry.

In southern Minnesota earlier this year there was a shortfall of 9,353 spaces for children 6 and under with working parents, according to the Center for Rural Policy and Development.

We think this is one of several creative solutions that will be needed to provide more child care opportunities for families and that will, in turn, help stabilize the local workforce. When employees of any profession can’t find adequate child care, they can’t return to work.

We encourage other industries to also consider creative solutions.