With the unique challenges presented by COVID-19, the Warren County R-III School District is hoping to provide some relief through its programs outside of educational hours. But, the district faces its own quandaries, meaning a change to how childcare programming looks this fall.

R-III is continuing to offer both its Care Day on Mondays when school is not in session and the Latchkey program before and after school hours. For many families, these resources may appear much different.

During its debut last year, Care Day was initially a free program to provide relief for parents during simulated school hours on Mondays. This year, given the district’s financial circumstances, R-III has implemented a fee for use of the program at $20 per day or $10 for four hours or less. Families who qualify for free-and-reduced lunch are exempt from this fee.

Director Dr. Janelle Stanek says the changes forced by COVID-19 and the cost of the program seem to have significantly impacted attendance, compared to last year. Monday was the first Care Day of the 2020-21 school year, with just 40 students using the service.

“A lot of our students from last year may be doing virtual school year may be doing virtual school instead, meaning they are staying home throughout the week,” said Stanek. “This week we were down about half from where we were last year.”

Care Day is once again being held at Rebecca Boone Elementary between the hours of 7:40 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. The infrastructure of the program, however, looks much different. Similar to a regular school day, students are remaining stationary in one classroom, with lunch and activities coming to them to prevent commingling.

“Last year we featured community members and local businesses to come in and do presentations,” said Stanek. “We’re still bringing them in but through virtual means. Even though we can’t physically bring presenters in, we’re still able to connect them with those learning opportunities.”

Programs include things such as Monday’s visit with a marine biologist and a reading with Scenic Regional Library. Much of the focus is on reading and the STEM topics of science, technology, engineering and math.

While it is encouraged that families pre-register for Care Day, it is not required.

The Latchkey program also looks considerably different this year, having expanded from just one elementary building to all three as well as Black Hawk Middle School. This resource provides supervision for students from 5:30 a.m. until school starts and from the end of the school day until 6 p.m.

“By offering the service at multiple buildings, we don’t have to transfer students on buses from building to building,” said Stanek. “This helps prevent commingling and also means the kids don’t have to wait to begin their Latchkey time.”

Previously the district only offered Latchkey through sixth grade, but that has been expanded through eighth grade to assist with the restricted bus route ranges recently implemented by R-III.

“We want to make sure kids are safe and supported and are glad parents are using these services,” said Stanek.