Arkansas鈥� child care system needs additional funding to avoid widespread closures and layoffs due to changes to the state鈥檚 financial aid program for low-income families, providers told the state Early Childhood Commission during a Wednesday work session.

A survey of providers found that about a quarter of them, spread out among 50 of Arkansas鈥� 75 counties, expect 400 layoffs by November, said Shahid Sheikh, owner of four Northwest Arkansas child care centers. Sheikh was among several child care providers and experts invited to the commission鈥檚 work session for discussion.

Eighty of the 250 facilities who responded to the survey are likely to close in the next 60 days, and many of them are located in low-income communities where child care is already scarce, Sheikh said.

Sheikh and other child care providers have in recent weeks about the Arkansas Department of Education鈥檚 proposed changes to the . In September, the agency announced a new reimbursement structure and a sliding-scale copayment structure, with the goal of reducing the four-digit child care waitlist and making the program more financially sustainable.

Child care advocates said the changes would create for families in need. The education department responded to the pushback by delaying cuts to providers鈥� reimbursement rates until Nov. 1, but moved forward with participant co-payments on Oct. 1 as planned, according to the .

The reimbursement rate cuts are expected to cost providers statewide $727,000 per week, according to the survey. That adds up to $37.8 million in lost revenue for local economies, Sheikh told the commission Wednesday.

鈥淲e stand to lose more money by not investing in [child care] than we do by investing, so while this may be a budget problem right now, in a year鈥檚 time, it鈥檚 going to be a budget disaster for the state,鈥� he said.

Education department officials are 鈥済oing through our budget with a fine-toothed comb鈥� in search of solutions, said Stacy Smith, deputy commissioner for the department鈥檚 Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Families who are working or enrolled in school with income at or below the state poverty level will not pay a copayment for children before kindergarten, and families above the poverty level will pay a copay scaled to income and the age of the child, .

Providers said their concerns about the copays being too expensive have come true.

鈥淭he amount that we鈥檙e asking families to pay is unreasonable for most of them, especially as such a quick ask,鈥� said Jenny Castillo, who owns five Spanish language-immersion child care centers in Northwest Arkansas. 鈥淔or it to be so fast, they have no time to prepare, to pivot.鈥�

Castillo said she hopes the state finds a way to ensure that families pay no more than 7% of their household income for child care, a national recommendation.

The increased copayments as of Oct. 1 have already forced some Arkansas child care centers to close because parents could not afford to pay anymore, Sheikh said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e already heard from some who have essentially [said], 鈥業t鈥檚 easier for me to quit my job and get on SNAP and have food stamps cover me than for me to go and work鈥欌�� to try to afford child care, Sheikh said.

The School Readiness Assistance Program is funded by the federal . Education department officials are currently unable to seek help from the federal government regarding the program because of the ongoing government shutdown, Smith and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva both said.

The might force the department鈥檚 Office of Early Childhood to lay off federally-funded staff, Smith said.

The state Legislature will meet in April for its regularly scheduled fiscal session, but child care providers said Wednesday that they can鈥檛 wait that long for financial aid.

State Reps. Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville, and Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, were the only lawmakers who participated in Wednesday鈥檚 discussion. Rep. Kendra Moore, R-Lincoln, and Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, were also present at the work session.

Mayberry said she appreciated the input from the providers, particularly the data, and said a special legislative session might be necessary to address the problems presented. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is responsible for calling a special session, and Mayberry urged providers and the education department to involve Sanders鈥� office in discussions of next steps.

Garner, a member of the commission, said she hopes the discussion will soon create 鈥渁ction items.鈥�

鈥淭he things we need to know as legislators are what pots of money we actually have鈥ow much money is that and where to pull money from the rest of the state budget and put it into early childhood [education],鈥� Garner said.

The commission is scheduled to meet again at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

More than two dozen private schools have applied as first-time participants in the second year of Arkansas鈥� school voucher program.

Created through the 2023 , the Educational Freedom Account program allows state funds to be used for allowable expenses such as private school tuition. It鈥檚 being phased in with expanding eligibility criteria each year until it鈥檚 available to all Arkansas students in the 2025-2026 academic year.

As of the end of June, 27 new private schools applied for the second year of the EFA program, according to the Arkansas Department of Education. There is no application deadline for schools, however, most approval will occur prior to the start of the academic year in August, ADE spokeswoman Kimberly Mundell said. If schools are approved in the fall, payments will be prorated, she said.

Twenty-three schools have received conditional approval pending legislative approval of the final rules governing the EFA program, Mundell said. Three schools are pending review and one school, The Lab School of Memphis, was rejected because it鈥檚 located outside Arkansas.

Madonna Learning Center in Germantown, Tennessee, however, is permitted to participate for its second year because the allows schools outside Arkansas that previously served Succeed Scholarship students to participate. The defunct program, which primarily supported students with disabilities, was absorbed into the EFA program.

Of the 100 schools approved to participate in the inaugural year of the program (not all participated), 86 have received preliminary approval and another seven are pending review, according to ADE. Two are closing 鈥� Avilla Christian Academy in Alexander and Cedar Heights Christian Academy in North Little Rock.

Instead of renewing, Lighthouse Homeschool Cooperative in Jonesboro is applying as an education service provider. Julian and Jaxon Academy in Little Rock was rejected for the upcoming year.

鈥淔rom the very beginning of the EFA program, we have stated that participating private schools will be held accountable for providing a high-quality education to students, and we will investigate if bad actors are wasting taxpayers鈥� funds,鈥� Mundell said. 鈥淒uring our ongoing review of participating schools this past school year, the department noticed some issues that resulted in a pause in payments to the entity. We have been in contact with school officials and will continue to investigate.鈥�

First-time applicants

Christi Zumwalt, administrator for Garrett Memorial Christian School in Hope, said she was 鈥渁 little apprehensive鈥� about joining the EFA program its inaugural year and wanted to take time to learn more about it. Zumwalt said she wanted to be sure the school鈥檚 Biblical curriculum wouldn’t be compromised before applying the second year.

鈥淲e wanted to be able to stay true to what we had been doing for these 24 years, but we also wanted to help our families out and provide Christian education to anyone, even those who might not be able to afford it,鈥� she said.

Tuition for the upcoming year at Garrett Memorial Christian School, which had nearly 170 students last year, will be $4,150 per child with discounted rates for siblings, according to Zumwalt and the application filed with ADE. There鈥檚 an additional $500-$550 in fees for enrollment, books, athletics and music.

For the 2024-2025 school year, EFA participants can receive up to $6,856 per student for educational expenses, an increase from about $6,600 last year.

Participation will be capped at around 14,000 students for the 2024-2025 academic year. Nearly 12,000 students have applied so far with 4,998 renewing students and 6,856 new applicants, according to ADE.

The department temporarily closed the student application portal in June to transition to a new vendor that will manage the program and it will reopen later this month, according to the .

The private school portal has remained open for applicants like Michael Maloy, Thaden School鈥檚 head of school, who said it made sense for his Bentonville institution to join the EFA program this fall because more students will be eligible as the school expands to include kindergarten and first grade.

Inaugural year eligibility criteria included foster children, children of active duty military members and first-time kindergarteners, as well as students who have disabilities, are experiencing homelessness or are enrolled in an 鈥淔鈥�-rated school. Eligibility in year two expands to include students at 鈥淒鈥�-rated schools and children of veterans, military reservists or first responders.

The independent school, which Maloy said offers a 鈥渃hallenging and engaging curriculum鈥� that aims to prepare students for college, work and life, opened in 2017 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. A longtime supporter of charter schools and 鈥渟chool choice,鈥� the foundation has invested more than $1 billion traditional district, public charter and private schools 鈥渢o support innovative organizations鈥� that want to give families the option 鈥渢o choose the best school for their child, regardless of their ZIP code,鈥� .

Thaden has historically offered grades 6-12, but plans to grow into a K-12 institution in the next few years. Tuition will range from $23,000 to $28,500 next year, and Maloy said they offer 鈥渁 robust financial aid program鈥� that includes indexed tuition, meaning families pay according to their income.

Participating in the EFA program will provide additional assistance to students鈥� families, more than half of whom receive some form of financial aid, he said.

鈥淚 think parents that have applied are very thankful to have the opportunity,鈥� Maloy said. 鈥淭he gift of a transformational education鈥檚 really important and being able to have help financing it I think is really important to parents.鈥�

Accountability measures

While proponents praise the affordability aspect of the EFA program, critics argue it鈥檚 unfair because private schools receiving state funding don鈥檛 have to follow the same requirements as their public counterparts, such as admitting all students, providing transportation and administering certain standardized tests.

The LEARNS Act does require private schools to administer approved annual exams for EFA students.

For AR Kids, a ballot question committee, hopes to address the accountability issue through a that, among other things, aims to hold private schools receiving state funding to the same standards as public schools. The group has until Friday to collect from at least 50 counties to qualify the measure for the 2024 ballot.

Opponents of the EFA program have also criticized it for drawing students away from public schools and taking with them much-needed funding, particularly for smaller, rural schools.

Zumwalt said she doesn鈥檛 view it as a competition with public schools 鈥渂ecause we do something totally different.鈥�

鈥淲e offer the academic rigor that the other schools do, but we also teach everything through a Biblical lens 鈥� my colleagues that are in public schools, I don鈥檛 feel like I鈥檓 competing with them and I鈥檝e told them that we鈥檙e not trying to take your students, we just want to be able to offer what we have to students who want it,鈥� she said.

Curriculum flexibility is appealing to Marcus Baskerville, who wants to open a Little Rock private school that offers an AI-driven curriculum with Christian components. The Texas-based education administrator hopes to open the Baskerville Leadership Academy in Little Rock for the 2025-2026 academic year and said he鈥檚 applying for the EFA program now so he鈥檒l already be in the system.

To qualify for the EFA program, schools that have not been in operation for at least one school year a statement by a certified public accountant that the school is insured and has sufficient capital or credit to operate in the upcoming school year and/or file with ADE a surety bond or letter of credit for the amount equal to the account funds needed by the school for any quarter.

Baskerville launched his nonprofit, Baskerville Squared, in 2020 after noticing a decline in students coming to school during the pandemic. He wanted more flexibility to try creative curriculums, which he said private schools provide.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e afforded that autonomy to, if something鈥檚 not working, you can change aggressively to help that student out to make sure something鈥檚 going to work 鈥� to make sure they鈥檙e all getting the education that they need as opposed to a few of them and a majority of them not getting it,鈥� he said.

Baskerville initially explored opening charter schools in , and . He later realized it would be easier to open a private school and learning about the EFA program solidified his plans to do so.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not here to take away from public schools or charter schools,鈥� Baskerville said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here to be a help to those areas because parents want an affordable option that鈥檚 alternative, and if you鈥檙e not getting it from public or charter and [private鈥檚] giving that affordability, you shouldn鈥檛 see it as a negative thing.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on and .