In La Plata County, securing reliable childcare for children under age 3 is nothing short of a miracle, according to childcare experts, facility directors and parents.
Childcare centers struggle with workforce shortages and staff burnout, high operating and insurance costs, and complex regulatory and licensing requirements, said Early Childhood Council of La Plata County Executive Director Heather Hawke – all of which can contribute to the area’s childcare access crisis.
Struggles like these have forced some providers, including River Mist Preschool, to close. The preschool will shutter Friday after 41 years because of insurance-related pressures, said Executive Director Jennifer Tew.
La Plata County’s childcare system can accommodate about 300 children under 3, while roughly 1,000 need care, Hawke said – effectively making the county a childcare desert for that age range.
Even when space is available, tuition costs are often out of reach for the average La Plata County family. Families can expect to pay $12,000 to $22,000 per child per year, Hawke said.
La Plata County voters passed Ballot Issue 1A in 2024, which reallocated up to 70% of the county’s lodgers tax to support access to early childcare education. Some new childcare options are also emerging – including a preschool program through The Powerhouse and plans for an additional preschool class at Sonflower Christian Preschool. Still, the childcare crisis in the county is far from solved.
Lack of reliable childcare can have far-reaching impacts, Hawke said – including on the economy.
Half of Colorado parents report making childcare-related sacrifices that affect their employment, and 60% of employers say they have lost employees as a result of lack of childcare, according to the La Plata Economic Development Alliance. The Alliance estimates the issue results in up to $34 million in annual economic losses.
By 2030, the childcare shortfall is expected to reach 56%, the Alliance reports.
Adjusting to and complying with complex insurance regulations is a common struggle for early childcare centers, Hawke said.
The preschool’s insurance company told Tew that children could no longer walk down to the Florida River with their teachers, which is located several hundred yards behind the preschool, for liability reasons. The cost to switch to an insurance company that covers trips to the river is out of reach for the school, she said.
Visiting the river has long been a key element of the riverfront school’s outdoor, play-based model, Tew said. Teachers follow strict safety guidelines, and in the school’s 40-plus-year run, there has never been an incident, she said.
“We feel the heart of this program (has been) gutted out, and why would someone want to operate something that’s so expensive when you can’t even use the amenity you’re paying so much money for?” she said.
Two buyers have expressed interest in launching a new preschool at the River Mist site, Tew said – but they both backed out when they learned about the operational costs and complex insurance regulations involved with running a childcare center.
Tew said the closure saddens her; but she doesn’t see a way to continue operating under the current constraints.
“One thing I would like Durango to know is how grateful I’ve been to be part of the River Mist community,” she said. “Even though it’s going to disappear, I think it will live on in our hearts as something really special that we all got to be a part of.”
For parents seeking childcare
The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County offers guidance, advice and support to local parents struggling to find childcare.
For assistance and help finding resources, call 247-0760, email support@ecclaplata.org or visit www.ecclaplata.org/parents-families/childcare-referrals/
Heather Haaland, the mother of a 2-year-old who attends River Mist and the leader of Mother Forward Colorado, a 501(c)(3) empowering moms and families to advocate for large-scale change in childcare and paid leave systems, said the loss of the preschool will be felt by families, and represents a county- and statewide issue.
Haaland said River Mist leadership have been intentional about connecting families with potential replacement childcare. Still, in a high-cost county with limited care capacity, there is no guarantee every family will be able to secure alternative options.
Erin McCormack, whose daughter Nora attends River Mist, said she was able to get Nora enrolled in a single open space in the St. Columba preschool program – an outcome she called a “miracle.”
“Childcare is nuts,” she said. “The difficult part that I’ve experienced is getting into a place – into any sort of facility.”
McCormack began putting her name on wait lists for preschools and childcare centers in the area when she was newly pregnant with Nora’s older sister, she said, and didn’t hear back until the older sister was 2½ – a wait of close to three years.
McCormack said she has seen the impact of high staff turnover firsthand.
“It's really difficult for childcare facilities to find good, reliable teachers that also meet all of the qualifications that they need,” she said. “There were a couple of points at River Mist where a teacher would leave, and it would take months for the director to fill that position. The director would end up stepping in and providing the teaching and the daycare.”
Tew said unreliable staffing has long been an issue at the preschool, and that she often felt overworked and under-resourced as the school’s director – an experience she said is shared by many leaders in childcare.
Hawke said childcare centers generally tend to operate for a long time once they’re open – but that razor-thin financial margins mean small pressures can sometimes cause centers to shutter suddenly. It’s hard to predict if other preschools in the area may close due to operational challenges in the coming years, Hawke said.
“With every single childcare business, there is a threshold for what they can absorb in added cost and added regulation,” she said. “If we don't have some mechanism for helping them – either by subsidizing the workforce on their behalf, so that they can be competitive, or overcoming (and) reducing some of the barriers that they have toward operation – then there are going to be centers that come to a point where their governing body or their operator says, ‘I can no longer make a living doing this, and so I'm going to have to close my doors.’”
Legislative action, on both a state and federal level, is necessary to address the childcare shortage, Hawke said.
“Get out and vote, and know what policies your elected officials are proposing for this particular industry, because it’s just not the same as private retail or food industry or hospitality,” she said. “It really is impacted by state, federal and local decisions that sometimes have unintended consequences for these young children, every day.”
epond@durangoherald.com
