NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The USD 308 Board of Education approved in October the use of $1.6 million in capital outlay to go with the $872,211 in grant funds already accepted to put a Lil' Hawks Daycare 0-3 facility on ground on the northwest corner next to Morgan Elementary.
"Having the child care center is going to allow us to expand 25 slots for zero to three students, which is what our community needs," said Ashley Webster. "They need child care. They need everyday traditional childcare, so it will allow us to not only expand, but expand our hours and expand our programming."
The expansion means parents won't have to find fill in the summer.
"We have only been a 10 month programming, um, but through the support of the Reno County Child Care Task Force, we have been able to secure them some funds additionally to the capital outlay that the board approved to be able to offer childcare 12 months a year."
Webster believes in the staff that she has, but she knows they will need more people.
"We already have a great staff of 15 staff members, and we have the support of the leadership team who backs that childcare," Webster said. "We are going to have to advertise. We are going to have to, you know, try to enlist people who want to come out and grow brains and not brew coffee, but I think we can do that. I think we have a great culture, and so we're building on a culture that we already have, and we are building on a credibility of our culture and our care, and so I think that's our advantage."
Now that they have solidified a location, they can meet with the city and the architects to get the details of the Morgan Elementary site worked out and begin site preparation.