BY JEAN JACQUES BOHL
The Blaine County School District’s daycare center for teenage mothers, whose elimination has been discussed previously as a way to save money, appears safe from budget cuts this year.
District Business Manager Mike Chatterton said in an interview last week that the district has a strong commitment to the daycare center and wants it to continue.
“The cost is worth the students staying in school,” Chatterton said. “It is just another tool in the overall cost of education.”
Chatterton’s reassurance of continuation of the daycare center, officially known as the district’s Teen Parenting Center, comes at a time when the district school board is looking at shaving $1.3 million off its operating budget for the 2016-2017 school year that starts July 1. Elimination of the center was considered two years ago during budget preparation in the spring of 2014 as a way of saving money.
According to Chatterton, the center costs the district about $53,000 annually, which includes salary and benefits for the center’s supervisor and for costs of operation. In addition to district funding, the center receives funding from the Idaho Department of Welfare Idaho Childcare Program and contributions from the Blaine County Education Foundation, the Angels of Mercy and other nonprofit or private donors.
Located at Silver Creek High School, the district’s alternative high school, the Teen Parenting Center was founded in 2011 by a 3-2 vote of the school board. Somewhat controversial at that time, the center seems to be viewed more favorably now and is even supported by some of its original critics.
The center currently has an enrollment of three mothers, who bring their children with them to school each day, visit with their children as part of an elective teen parenting class and spend break and lunch time with them. Teenage fathers, often enrolled themselves as high school students, sometimes participate in the class along with the mothers.
Since its founding, 17 students have transited through the program.
Helping mothers stay in school was a major argument for establishing the center when its founding was being debated five years ago.
According to the Idaho South Central Public Health District, six out of 100 teenaged girls in the health district, which includes Blaine County, will become pregnant, often dropping out of school and becoming a funding burden to society.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 34 percent of teenage girls who become pregnant will not obtain a high school diploma. The Alliance for Excellent Education reports that “a single high school dropout costs the nation approximately $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes and productivity.”
“From a societal point of view, everyone benefits when students are kept in school,” said Silver Creek High School Principal Mike Glenn. “We try to hang on to students, keep them and lead them to graduation.”
Desiree Kelly, the center’s supervisor, pointed out that the center, unlike some private daycare operations, takes in newborns, allowing young mothers to resume school quickly after delivery.
Kelly said that in addition to helping teenage mothers stay in school, the center helps the children learn social skills and “positive interactions with others.”