The Friendly Faces day care began five years ago in a church basement. Since then, their reputation for quality and play-based educational service has resulted in increased enrolment and a substantial wait list. The owners believed that the time was right to look for a new and larger location to accommodate the rapidly expanding clientele. So, in January, they purchased a small home in the neighbourhood that, with renovations, would ultimately enable them to accommodate another 25 to 30 children. The owners anticipated that the day care would be ready in early May.

A government grant was secured for the down payment of the property but all renovations and maintenance of the facility had to come out of the day care's operating budget. The owners originally anticipated that mortgage payments would be about the same as the rental that was paid to the church. However, in order to meet municipal by-laws, renovation costs exceeded expectations and a larger mortgage had to be secured.
The end result was larger than anticipated monthly payments.

The new day care was a renovated two-story house with a wonderful relaxed atmosphere and felt like home. The back yard would serve as an excellent outdoor play environment, and the day care could now accommodate more children than the small numbers served in the church. The main floor consisted of a small but functional kitchen, two small bathrooms - one for the adults and one for the children, one room for the infants with an adjacent sleeping room, a small room for the toddlers, and one double room for the three year old children. The upper floor consisted of a large double room for the four to five year old children, the administrator’s office, two double children's size bathrooms, and a spare room that would be completed in the future. The basement included an entrance from the garden, cubby spaces for coats and boots, a small bathroom, a staff lounge, a room for a washer and dryer, and two small storage rooms.

Sally Olson, the administrator of Friendly Faces Day Care, was the link between staff, parents, and the owners. She met weekly with the owners to discuss finances, enrolment, and other relevant issues. However, Sally had no knowledge of the financial problems that were looming. Her financial discussions were limited to planning and maintaining a budget for meals and snacks, working within an allotted budget for supplies, completing the payroll information, and depositing parent fees. Any checks that Sally wrote had to be co-signed by one of the owners. Her weekly meetings did not include much discussion about program planning as the owners felt that as long as there were no complaints and enrolment remained high, Sally should have complete autonomy in the area of programming. Sally, on the other hand, took no interest in the owners' rental expenses or other payables.

Meetings between Sally and the owners were quite structured. She often received a phone call a day or two before the scheduled meeting with items that the owners wanted to discuss. This week John Keagan called with an unexpected list of topics and Sally was caught off guard.

So many thoughts were racing through Sally’s mind. Fees were collected at the end of each month but families generally had until the seventh of the following month to make payments. Since cash flow had never been an issue, and since Sally was well aware of some of the financial struggles of the parents in the day care, she often agreed to extend payment deadlines. She never questioned the procedure since it did not seem to effect the centre's budget and it went a long way toward helping out the parents and promoting good will. Now she wondered: would collecting all monies on time make a difference?

Sally also reflected on the nearly eight months of renovations which were now completed. All the day care staff had been involved in the project and were looking forward to the day care's move. How could she possibly cut one staff member? All the staff had been so devoted to the project and all were valued members of the day care team. Sally asked herself, "Should she cut Joanne, the staff member with the least seniority? Well, Joanne had worked just as hard on the project as all the other staff members. Furthermore, of all the educators in the day care, Joanne had the highest level of educational training and the most experience in the field." Sally thought maybe she could consider letting Karen go. Karen was not pulling her load as much as Sally would like, but Karen was one of the first staff to be hired when the day care opened five years earlier. Then Sally reflected on arranging a job sharing situation where she reduced each staff members' work hours slightly. Although this meant part-time instead of full time salaries for employees it would assure each staff member of a job.

In anticipation of her meeting with the owners, Sally thought about the eight staff that were presently working at the day care. She wondered how she might have to change the shifts to ensure adequate supervision for the thirty-one children. Presently, there were two educators with each age group of six infants, eight toddlers, eleven children between the ages of two and three, and twelve four to five year old children. Additionally, there was one cook who came in at 8:30 a.m. and was responsible for morning snack and lunch preparation (Exhibit 8.1).

Sally reflected on the phone call and thought about the input that would be most effective and equitable to staff, parents, and the owners.

Educator shifts rotate monthly so that early and late shifts occur every three months.

Exhibit 8.2 Job Description:

• Plan, implement, and evaluate activities and experiences for children.
• Ensure that children are integrated and welcomed into the day care environment
• Greet parents and deliver the needed information with respect to the development and socialization of the children.
• Organize parent meetings twice yearly.
• Supervise out door play
• Participate in professional development sessions/workshops