LAUSD is seeking to double its infant care centers and expand early education programs for toddlers, a plan that aims to push the district deeper into the child-care industry, provide affordable day care and eventually bolster dwindling district enrollment.
The proposal calls for reopening several shuttered early education centers, placing more preschool classrooms on elementary campuses and expanding the district’s relationship with local child-care providers.
“We know early learning is transformative and very beneficial for the students that we serve in Los Angeles,” said board member Kelly Gonez, who introduced the resolution. “We know that there are still gaps in terms of access to programs and care for our families in Los Angeles, and that this is a really significant expense for families.”
The resolution, which is expected to be approved by the Board of Education on Tuesday, could bring some relief to Los Angeles families that often face a heavy financial burden paying for care before a child is eligible to enter the public school system.
The median cost for full-time care for an infant in L.A. County was $1,209 a month at a family child-care home and $1,818 a month at a center in 2024, according to data from the California Budget & Policy Center. For a preschooler, the cost was $1,121 at a home and $1,271 at a center.
“A lot of our families struggle with the cost of child care or with finding the right location for their family where there’s a quality program that they know is going to meet the social, emotional, academic and health needs of their students,” Gonez said. “I think there will be great interest in expanded options for families.”
It is unclear how many new slots would be opened with this expansion, and costs have not yet been determined, Gonez said. The expansion is expected to be funded by an LAUSD bond passed in 2024 as well as by the district’s child development fund. The early learning team is expected to return to the board within five months with a detailed plan, she said.
The district has attempted to make its preschool programs accessible to more families in recent years, removing its potty-training requirement and opening up its state-funded programs to higher-income families when there are vacancies.
The resolution calls for the district to open an infant center in each of LAUSD’s seven board districts. Four currently operate in Reseda, South L.A. and Boyle Heights and prioritize teen parents who attend LAUSD schools, and open additional spaces to the community.
Due to enrollment declines, there are many elementary school campuses with spare classroom space, which Gonez said opens up an opportunity for state-funded preschools to form an earlier pipeline for families on the same campus their child may eventually attend.
While additional day-care slots, especially for infants, would be helpful for parents, there is potential benefit for the district as well: new students. LAUSD faced a 4.5% decline this school year, according to state data, correlating with declining birth and immigration rates, high housing costs and deportation crackdowns.
Expanding early education and child-care programs could draw families into the district, encouraging them to stay at neighborhood schools rather than turn to alternative options such as private and charter schools, said Bruce Fuller, education professor emeritus at UC Berkeley.
“If you get families of infants and toddlers onto LAUSD campuses, they’re likely to stay on those campuses in the elementary schools,” Fuller said. “You’re going to nurture the loyalty of those parents to the district and the community. “
School board member Nick Melvoin, who is co-sponsoring the resolution, agreed on the need to create a consistent student pipeline.
“I just think what is important as we’re trying to serve more families also is our bottom line,” Melvoin said. “We’re trying to capture more enrollment. If you start with L.A. Unified as early as 6 months or 6 weeks with some of the infant centers, then I think you’re more likely to stay throughout.”
The resolution calls for expanding dual language preschool programs, to ensure that all elementary dual language programs have a linked preschool that would enable families to start their children learning a second language earlier.
Gonez also aims to expand partnerships with home-based and community-based child-care providers to create a bridge between the district and existing child-care system.
That effort might also diffuse some tension caused by the addition of transitional kindergarten, which took away many 4-year-olds from an already struggling child-care industry, Fuller said.
Efforts would include creating shared professional development opportunities, community events, coordination on curriculum, and collaboration on before- and after-school child care for TK and state preschool students, who may need full-day and year-round care.
“Partnership is specifically called out as a priority for this expansion plan because we want to work hand in hand with both other center-based providers, but also with family home providers … to meet the diverse needs of our families,” Gonez said.
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.
The post LAUSD seeks to expand affordable child care by using spare classrooms, shuttered centers appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
