Daycare - Osseo,MN

I agree with the fact that you should have been given some type of notice for the increase, and it looks like you were. Many daycare homes as well as centers give a 2 week notice. This announcement was given to you on 4-13-10 and doesn't take place until May 3rd which is 1 day shy of 3 full weeks. If you are really concerned about not getting a full 30 days notice, look at your contract and see what it says about tuition increases. If the contract says they will give a 30 day notice before increases, hold them to that. My guess is that it's really not about the notice and that it's about the increase. Were you aware that there would be an increase when he was ready to go to the "older" room? I'm not sure if centers are different from daycare homes, but I am a home daycare provider and fees go DOWN not up as the child gets older. Before I was an in home daycare provider I had my oldest son in a daycare center and their fees were higher for a younger child and fees changed (but got lower) as he got older. As for the increase not taking place until now; it could be your son (due to his birthdate) is just now ready to move to the older room. They wouldn't increase your fees at the beginning of the year if your child won't be in the older room until May (and that's a good thing). As for the coupon that you had, it sounds like a coincidence that it's expired now at the same time as the increase. I'm sorry you aren't happy with all the change and I know that childcare is expensive. I hope you can find something that works for you and your family. Good Luck.

I'm not sure if you mean the rates went up for just your child (due to changing rooms), or if the fees went up for everyone??

If it's just because of the room change, I would think they would have informed you of this when you were first looking at & enrolled in this daycare. Normally the room rates go down as the child gets older, but I believe the daycare my nephew goes to actually adds in new fees. He's in what I call a "fancy" daycare/school where they teach a lot of things. At certain ages/rooms they charge extra fees for books/supplies & for meals. The rates for each room should have been given to you from the beginning.

Our daycare is very different from others because it's on an Army post and is regulated by the Army. Our fees are actually not based on room at all, but by our income. They have several categories of income ranges & each one pays a different amount (the more income you get, the more you pay). Since we don't have a large income at the moment, we pay WAY less than any other daycare I've ever heard of. Meals (breakfast, lunch, snack) are included & it is a wonderful daycare. Perhaps ship hubby off to the military so you can get in an on-post daycare :-P (or in our post's case, you can be a civilian worker on post to get in the daycare).

I owned a day care for ten years and unless there is something in the contract saying they must give a certain amount of time to start the new payment schedule they can change it when ever. If your child is happy and you are to with the staff I would say pay because good day care is really hard to find.

When I had my twins in daycare the cheapest that I could find for part time daycare for new infants was $100 a week per kid with it going down when they turned 2 (don't know what those rates were since we did the daycare thing for a year then we decided that I should just stay at home with the kids, all my money was going to daycare). As a normal thing when your child goes to an "older" room the rates go down because they don't need as much attention say as a newborn needs. Hope that helps!! Finding good reliable daycare in this area is really hard to do!! Good Luck!

In my experience with daycare centers, they usually increase the rates 4-6% yearly. Although, it usually occurs around September to coincide with school starting. Did they just raise the rates last September and are doing it again? If that's the case, you have the right to be angry. Without knowing how much you pay now, it's hard to determine if $36 is a huge amount or not. You do have the right to know how much it would have been if he movied to the older room without the increase in price. Usually the toddler to older toddler isn't much of a differece - like maybe $10-20 per week less. Then when all is said and done, if you're unhappy or feel like you are being taken advantage of, start looking at other centers. This is what I did when my last center raised the price 5% for two year in a row in the middle of a bad recession. I ended up finding a better center for less money! Do research online. When I left Center #1 with two kids, they lost a lot of business because several other moms followed. If you have other mom friends that you know of, talk to them and see how they feel. Sorry for rambling! Good luck!

I'm not sure about the notice, I don't have a contract for my daycare and have never even heard of having a daycare contract! I have a 7 month old in daycare and a 10 year old and alot of friends with kids in daycare and I have not heard of a daycare that goes up in price as the child gets older, from everything I've seen or heard, it is more expensive the YOUNGER the child is and I am positive you can find another daycare where it costs less as your child gets older. What part of town are you in? I found a wonderful daycare and I only pay $95 a week and no - I am not low income or on Medicaid or anything like that. Its a regular daycare that is state-certified and everything, they even cook for the children daily and potty train! I drive the opposite direction of my job to take my son there and hit a little more traffic driving back towards town (the galleria area is where I work) but its so worth it to me to save the money and have my child somewhere I feel comfortable with the care :)

You should at least get some kind of statement explaining the rates--what is your new rate (out of promo period), when does their school calendar start (May seems odd to me), etc. At our daycare, the infant and toddler rooms are the same price. Then, when the baby moves up to 2-3 y/o room, rate drops about $20/week. I'm not sure what happens after that, because we just moved up to the toddler room in January. Also, our daycare is based on the city's public school schedule--registration is in July, new "school year" starts in August, and they follow the holiday schedule. A baby/kid can start any time of the year, but must pay registration ($75) for the year they start and again each new year (July). All of this was laid out for me when we first signed up--and given to me in writing.

Also, if you really want to know, I pay $164 each WEEK for our daycare! Strangely, they do not offer any kind of discount if you pay for a full month (most other daycares I talked to did offer a little discount). But, I think it is worth it. My girl (and I) loves her teachers, she has an actual curriculum that they follow, she learns songs, colors, shapes, numbers, letters (in english & spanish), they do lots of art projects, they host family events (holidays), they even go on field trips (a parent has to go with the toddlers), and it's only 5 minutes from my work!

The least expensive daycare I found in our area (that accepted babies--she was 9-weeks when I had to go back to work) was ~$140/week, and it was dirty, in a shady neighborhood, was filled with crying babies, and smelled bad... so, I think I got a pretty good deal.

We pay around $260 a week for my infant son..once he transitions to the Toddler Room (where my 2 year old is now) we will pay $233 roughly...so it is expensive...about $934 every two weeks...but I always say you get what you pay for and they are taking care of the most valuable two people in my life. We love our center and frankly if the prices went up we wouldn't say anything because we realize how little daycare providers get paid and how important they are to us.

I do understand your concern though as they should have at least given you notice so that if you didn't want to spend that you could begin the search for new daycare. It is kind of strange too because most centers as your child get older and transitions from Infants to Toddlers the price goes down because they can self feed, most are potty trained etc. ...and it sounds like they are raising your price...so that i would look into. Just my thoughts though.

That's odd. Usually the older they get, the lower the rate.

If everyone got the same notice as you did, that there will be a rate increase, then they did give you almost three weeks' notice. When was the last time their rates went up? If it has been more than a year, then it seems reasonable to raise the rates.

I'm sorry they didn't give you as much notice as you would have liked. But please keep in mind that they are not trying to gouge you. Daycare is an incredibly expensive service to provide. Most daycares operate on a tiny margin of profit. The teachers get little to no benefits, and their hourly wages are really low. They do a really important job -- taking care of the littlest ones -- but get treated with very little respect, and their low salaries are just the least of it. (I used to work in daycare, and only managed because my husband made enough for us to live on.)

I think that the best you can do is politely ask the director to give one month's notice in the future when rates go up.

I have a few questions?
* Whats the deal with the May increase date? Does this center go by your own start date? Was May an anniversary start month for you? Otherwise..May seems odd if this is their "2010" rate, just as other posters responded. Why not with the new calendar year...or the upcoming September "school year" that is common in this area (I am local..Brooklyn Park, MN). I, too would find out if everyone's rates are increasing at the same time and look to the contract/policies you agreed to when you started there. Talk to other parents if need be?

*Next... are the rates going up for a change to the older room? Or are we mis-reading this part? I didn't think any centers around here did this. Many home daycares also reduce rates for older ages (I also do home daycare..as I stated above I am close to you...but I just charge a flat rate for all ages. Increases for COLA can happen at my home daycare, but tehy are not written into my policies....but I haven't increased rates for almost 3 years due to the economy). ****OK..ignore that part..I just read your EDIT..LOL

Unfortunately, these things can create animosity between a place of business and clients. Hopefully you get things all cleared up to your satisfaction.

WOW! I own an Inhome daycare and I give the parents more then 2 months in advance if I do a rate increase. I believe by law they have to send you a written notice 30 days in advance for it to be legal. Did they send you a letter??? If yes, check the date. If anything you can change daycares. Maybe try looking into an Inhome daycare then a big daycare. Good luck :)

Hi L.,
I would speak directly to the Director and/or owner to find out why if your child is moving to the "older" room the rate is going up as opposed to down. I worked in centers for several years and when children moved to the "older" rooms the rates always went down. As far as May being the increase that I also find a little strange. Maybe the center is having financial issues they are trying to sort out. Either way, keeping asking until someone is really honest with you.
Good Luck!

I think that is A LOT per week! Our rates went up for 2010 $10 per child per room....so that is $80 more per month....

Did the rate also go up because your child is going into a 'older' room? I'd think it would be the opposite.

I do not think that the policy we have states that rates 'will' go up - only that the rates quoted are for X year - X year. I didn't even think about the fact that it may go up.

My daughter moves to an older room in August and her costs will go down $80 a month (or $20/week) so that will be better!! Then once my son moves to the older room, it'll go down another $40 a month...