Source: Department of Early Education and Care
At a virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy shared plans for reopening Massachusetts’ early childhood programs.
A recording of the event is posted here.
“We’re looking toward the future and trying to think [about] and design strategies that can ensure that we are building a more supportive and more solid foundation for child care providers,” Commissioner Sam said at the town hall.
She is proposing a phased opening that builds on Governor Charlie’s Baker’s order that all schools and EEC programs remain closed through June 29, 2020.
As the slide below explains, EEC will engage in a three-step reopening process of assessing the EEC landscape, designing strategies that “addresses health and safety, sustainability, workforce, and financing,” and preparing to put these strategies into action.
Source: Department of Early Education and Care
At every step in the process, EEC will solicit feedback from stakeholders.
Source: Department of Early Education and Care
And the entire process will be based on clear, guiding principles.
Source: Department of Early Education and Care
Specific opportunities to provide feedback include:
Source: Department of Early Education and Care
In the meantime, Massachusetts will continue to pay for subsidized child care slots throughout the closure, so programs will not lose this income.
EEC is keeping its website updated with COVID-19-related information about financial support for businesses, unemployment insurance, and other information for providers and families.
In addition, providers who need information about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) can email the Children’s Investment Fund at support@childrensinvestmentfundma.org.
EEC has also developed a partnership with Care.com so that, “Essential workers looking for in-home child care will be able to find eligible EEC-licensed, certified, or approved educators who are currently not working in child care programs and may provide skilled in-home care.”
As EEC reaches out to hear from the field about reopening, please let the department know what you think. For more information or to share your ideas with EEC, contact Victoria Celano at victoria@aimandarrowgroup.com.
Sharing your experience is a crucial part of ensuring that Massachusetts designs well-informed policies that meet the needs of providers and families.
As Commissioner Sam says: “Our first priority and our most pressing priority is the public health and safety of the commonwealth.”
Eye on Early Education is a blog of Strategies for Children, an organization that works to ensure that Massachusetts invests the resources needed for all children, from birth to age five, to access high-quality early education programs that prepare them for success in school and life. The blogger, 
eyeonearlyeducation.org 
I have an in-house daycare. I am very worried that I am not going to be able to care for all the children that I normally have. I understand about health and safety, but I can’t afford to have fewer kids.
How do you plan to socially distance toddlers? 2 teachers to 9 kids. Even 3 to 9 in some centers. How are teachers suppose to feel safe knowing that these parents who are doctors and nurses are exposed everyday and then drop off their kids with us and then we have to go home and endanger our families. I think a full proof plan needs to be set up before even thinking about opening up child care centers.
In my community local summer camp programs are thinking of using schools and spreading children out thinly in each classroom and keeping contained groups, and having students eat in their classrooms. I think closed grouping is a good idea.
I also have heard of forest school days where children remain out side all day.
My biggest concern is high numbers of children sharing hallways and bathrooms. In my preschool program we have two classes of 17+15 =32 children sharing the bathroom that is in one of the Pre-k and P-Sch classrooms, and we have diaper changes 3x a day, and 8+ teachers sharing a teacher bathroom.
Just before the pandemic our school broke ground for a new school to be built.
We will have to see what impact the virus is having on kids. I think we should plan for the worst case scenario to be safe.
There are 33 states where child care programs have been operating safely for the past two months without increased spread of the virus (the states have lower incidence of the disease than does MA) and with a handful of cases within the centers of staff/families having a confirmed Covid case. Parents can’t work without quality child care. Why can’t MA align the opening of child care with the opening of non-essential businesses using these successful models? The health and safety protocols are all in place based on CDC guidelines and best practices in the field AND ALREADY OPERATING SUCCESSFULLY – why is MA reinventing the wheel?
Just wonder how centers will be sanitized to prepared when children are back? Is the health department involved to make sure places are clean and well provided for teachers and children?
i believe daycare as well as preschools in ma should remain closed through at least early aug. this virus is still very active around western ma. How do you plan to socially distance toddlers? Emergency childcares should remain open, and perhaps open more if some parents need to return to work. when educators at home or in school setting do not feel safe and thus having anxiety over safety it can affect our well being. why the hurry?
I agree we should not be open till Aug 1 to give more time. So when we open maybe things would be better. I work with toddlers and there is no way to keep them apart