Turtle Lake daycare center closing
Low child enrollment and increased regulations are causing the licensed daycare center in Turtle Lake to shut down as of Oct. 4, 2019. Board President Dianne Zenker says this was a really hard and very disappointing decision
“Dependable child care is needed to have a thriving community where people can work and know their kids are being cared for well. It breaks my heart to close the doors.”
Since 2013, Tiny Turtles Daycare has provided an important service to the community. The founding board members saw a need and worked hard to fill it by starting a licensed center for the working families of Turtle Lake and the surrounding area. Community response was positive with families enrolling up to 18 children in the center located at City Hall in Turtle Lake.
Over the years, child enrollment declined as the daycare struggled to find and retain qualified workers and also pay competitive wages to keep dependable employees. At the present time, Zenker says “the center has the best staff it has ever had, but now child numbers are at a record low.”
DeAndra Viellieux started as the director in April of this year and immediately began trying to make improvements. Viellieux hired several new staff, restructured the children’s daily schedules, and worked to implement new programs such as after-school care to attract more families.
Tiny Turtles has been operating at a loss since the start of the year when several families switched to home-based providers. The daycare has had only three full-time children and a couple part-time since Viellieux started as the director. The center needs at least six full-time children to break even.
