A shortage of workers has forced a Maine day care center to turn away parents who want to send their children there. “We have the children. We have the space. We don’t have the employees,” Creative Beginnings co-owner Nichole Page said.During the pandemic, the South Portland child care center moved to a larger building to create more classrooms to accept more children.Page said for the past three months they have struggled to fill three open positions.“We get people that send their resumes and set up their interviews, and then they just don’t show up,” Page said. “They have the opportunity to apply for a job, set up an interview, show unemployment that they did their job, still get their benefits but never show up for that interview.”Mainers earning unemployment benefits are receiving an extra $300 a week funded by federal pandemic aid. The extra benefit is set to end in early September.Page believes that extra benefit is making it harder to find the workers she needs.“We pay a good pay. We give them benefits. There’s 401K, there’s matching, health insurance and dental insurance,” Page said. “Something has to change with unemployment. People can’t be given extra money to stay home. Who’s going to want to stop doing that?”Page said that without a safe student-to-teacher ratio, she had to cancel reservations with some parents who were expecting to send their children to the day care center in the fall.“I had a woman crying on the phone. I had some anger, which I understand. I just kept saying, ‘I’m sorry,'” Page said. “I just didn’t know what to do. If I enroll your child I’m illegal here.”Page said if they lose one more teacher another classroom might need to close, affecting more families.
A shortage of workers has forced a Maine day care center to turn away parents who want to send their children there.
“We have the children. We have the space. We don’t have the employees,” Creative Beginnings co-owner Nichole Page said.
During the pandemic, the South Portland child care center moved to a larger building to create more classrooms to accept more children.
Page said for the past three months they have struggled to fill three open positions.
“We get people that send their resumes and set up their interviews, and then they just don’t show up,” Page said. “They have the opportunity to apply for a job, set up an interview, show unemployment that they did their job, still get their benefits but never show up for that interview.”
Mainers earning unemployment benefits are receiving an extra $300 a week funded by federal pandemic aid. The extra benefit is set to end in early September.
Page believes that extra benefit is making it harder to find the workers she needs.
“We pay a good pay. We give them benefits. There’s 401K, there’s matching, health insurance and dental insurance,” Page said. “Something has to change with unemployment. People can’t be given extra money to stay home. Who’s going to want to stop doing that?”
Page said that without a safe student-to-teacher ratio, she had to cancel reservations with some parents who were expecting to send their children to the day care center in the fall.
“I had a woman crying on the phone. I had some anger, which I understand. I just kept saying, ‘I’m sorry,'” Page said. “I just didn’t know what to do. If I enroll your child I’m illegal here.”
Page said if they lose one more teacher another classroom might need to close, affecting more families.