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Tiger Cub Child Care Center, opened in spring 2020 through Albert Lea Community Education to serve children of Albert Lea Area Schools staff and the surrounding community, will close at the end of the school year because of increasing shortfalls, Albert Lea Community Education Director John Double said Tuesday.

In a presentation to school board members, Double presented information about the program and the challenges it has faced since opening. The care center is on the first floor of Brookside Education Center.

Double said Tiger Cub is licensed to serve up to 44 children at a time, including 16 infants and 28 toddlers or preschoolers. It has recently had a daily fill rate of about 79.5%, and the budget is set on a 100% fill rate.

Infants need a staff-to-child ratio of one to four, while toddlers need one adult for every seven children and preschoolers need one adult for every 10 children.

He said care for infants costs about $230 a week for parents, while toddlers and preschoolers cost about $210 a week, which are comparable to other child care centers in Albert Lea.

The program is run through the Community Service Fund, which is part of Albert Lea Community Education.

Double said the revenue and expense shortfall has been rising. In fiscal year 2021, the revenue-expense shortfall was about $56,000, and the district received a Department of Human Services grant for about $8,500, and the remaining shortfall was covered by a general ed transfer.

In fiscal year 2022, the shortfall was about $64,000, and in fiscal year 2023, the shortfall was almost $75,000, though they were able to obtain a Department of Human Services $38,000 childcare stabilization grant, which left about $36,000.

Knowing this financial information, he said they tried putting in some mitigating strategies for the school year, including decreasing staff by one position and reducing one supervisor, increasing the fill rate, adding drop-in care to fill up extra days and increasing the rates of service.

Another challenge is that the meals cannot be covered like the meals are for K-12 students.

He said this is not sustainable by the Community Services fund in the future and estimated that next year’s annual shortfall is estimated at $98,000.

School board Chairwoman Kim Nelson, who previously served as director of The Children Center, asked what the breakdown of infants to toddlers has been, noting that there are less staff needed for toddlers. She also asked about the cost of the drop-in care.

Double said they have been charging a little more for drop-in care than other slots, at about 1.25 times more.

Nelson also asked about the ratio of children from district staff versus the community, and Double said it has been about half and half.

School board member Bruce Olson asked if there are other programs in Albert Lea that could pick up the slots, noting the importance of child care, and Double said they have been in talks with some other child care options in the community to see if they are interested or available to take on more.

Board member Neal Skaar said he was on the board when the program was implemented, describing it as a noble venture at the time.

“I can understand it’s not practical for us to take that whole venture on ourselves and finance it, when there is no financing available for it,” he said. “It’s an expense that could potentially drain us of our resources.”

Board member Dave Klatt said though the community is in need of child care, the district made a nice attempt to help the best they could.

“As we push forward with other expenses that aren’t being funded by the state, and we wish they were, this is probably the only other option,” Klatt said.

Board member Gary Schindler agreed and said though it was a difficult decision, it looked like they had made every effort to mitigate the shortfall.