Spring - Klein Edition | December 2023

From the cover

Spring-area parents, providers face child care obstacles

The overview

Child care seats vs. eligible children in the Spring-Klein area, 2022 Number of child care seats

In the Greater Houston area, 45 ZIP codes qualify as child care deserts, according to data provided by Children at Risk. To determine child care deserts, Children at Risk ocials used 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data to dene a child as eligible for care if they were age 5 or younger and both of their parents were employed. In the Spring and Klein area as dened by Children at Risk, three ZIP codes qualify as child care deserts: 77066, 77069 and 77382. Kim Kofron, Children at Risk’s senior director of education, said she believes access to child care has been a problem statewide for decades, but noted the issue was further complicated by the pandemic. Kofron said Texas had around 17,000 early child care centers before the pandemic hit in 2020. While that number had fallen to roughly 12,000 in 2021, she said the number of providers has since rebounded to around 14,000. Despite the increase, Kofron said more than 70,000 kids throughout the state are currently on waitlists to receive early child care. Matt Evers—co-owner of several Primrose locations in the Greater Houston area, including Primrose School at Crossroads Park in Cypress— said parents should apply at least six months in advance, noting wait times can increase to as much as two years for infants. However, Denise Statlander, owner of Greengate Academy in Spring, said her business has about half as many students enrolled following the pandemic, noting the drop in enrollment is threatening the day care’s ability to survive.

Number of eligible children

1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000

500

77066

77069 77070

77068

77380 77381 77382 77386 77388 77389 77090 77373 77379

Child care deserts in the Spring-Klein area, 2022

77382

Spring/Klein

77381

High access to child care: 76% or more of eligible children have access to a child care seat Moderate access to child care: 34%-75% of eligible children have access to a child care seat Child care desert: 33% or less of eligible children have access to a child care seat Child care desert The Spring-Klein area is home to three ZIP codes referred to as child care deserts, meaning there are at least three times as many children eligible for early child care as there are seats available.

77380

77389

99 TOLL

77386

77388

77373

77379

77068

77090

77069

77070

1960

249

77066

SOURCE: CHILDREN AT RISK, U.S. CENSUS BUREAUCOMMUNITY IMPACT

What they’re saying

“The gap between the low income and the upper income is greater and greater here. … The day cares in the lower-income areas can’t afford to stay in business. The Primrose [schools] have au pairs and things like this. They can survive, and they have [student] waiting lists.” DENISE STATLANDER, OWNER, GREENGATE ACADEMY

“Those statistics show that there’s not enough space for the amount of kids that need care, and that, to me, is not balancing, because everybody I know around me is down at least 30%-40% [in enrollment].” SANDY PRISKA, DIRECTOR AND CO OWNER, SPRING MONTESSORI

“It's hard to make child care profitable anywhere you are, but it’s even harder to do that in a low-income area. We do find low- income areas to be more likely to have higher child care deserts than our middle income and more affluent neighborhoods.” KIM KOFRON, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, CHILDREN AT RISK

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