The USD 413 Board of Education recognized community partners and donors during its regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 12, highlighting progress toward establishing a child care center in Chanute through collaboration with the Neosho County Child Care Coalition, with an ambitious goal of opening this August.
Superintendent Matt Koester told board members the child care coalition originated around 2020 as part of the Neosho County Health Care Coalition, which identified child care as a critical community need. According to Koester, Neosho County is short of approximately 286 childcare slots needed.
Koester said discussions about early learning and child care within the school district have been ongoing for several years, particularly regarding workforce retention and employee support.
“Childcare is a workforce development tool,” Koester said. “How can we expect people to get to work without it?”
Koester said momentum for the project increased following long-range facilities planning discussions and a recent realization that space may now be available to move the district’s preschool program and expand services.
USD 413 plans to relocate its four-yearold preschool program from the Early Learning Center to Chanute Elementary School. Koester said that enrollment for CES has been trending downward, losing about 250 students in the last decade. Koester said they would have to make some changes at the elementary school to accommodate the four-year-olds, but they have the space to do so. Koester said it would also save the district some money to have all of the certain services in one building.
Conversations eventually led to exploring the possibility of converting the current Early Learning Center on Main Street into a child care center.
Koester said the effort gained significant support after discussions with representatives of the Jim and Jean Cooper Foundation, who expressed interest in making a community-focused donation. The foundation has pledged a significant contribution to help bring the child care center project to fruition.
“For the last two months, everything really fell into place,” Koester said.
The district will maintain ownership of the building, but plans to lease it to an actual childcare company.
During the meeting, Koester recognized members of the Child Care Coalition who have worked on the initiative for several years, including Chelsea Frost, Anna Methen, Patty Anne Sanborn, and Kandy Rushing. Burrus credited the group with keeping the project moving forward despite challenges and delays.
“I did not do this project,” he said. “This would never have happened without the childcare coalition.”
Koester said the proposed child care center could benefit not only families and district employees but also the broader community by improving school readiness for young children entering the district. He said increased access to quality child care and early learning could help close gaps in student preparedness and positively impact future generations.
“This is going to benefit generations to come,” Koester said. “I think it is going to be an amazing thing for the community.”
