HANCOCK COUNTY — Schools are closed and people have been ordered to stay home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but not everyone can do that.
Health-care professionals, firefighters, police officers, certain retail workers, restaurant employees and others whose work is considered essential are on the clock. They need somewhere to bring their young children.
Child care is also on that list of essential businesses and operations in an executive order Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb issued on March 23, which called for many businesses to close in an effort to slow the coronavirus’s spread.
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While headcounts are down greatly, child care facilities in Hancock County continue taking care of kids during the pandemic so that their parents can continue keeping the vital parts of society running as smoothly as possible.
Shining Stars Child Care Academy in Greenfield is a state-licensed early-childhood education center and out-of-school learning academy that serves children 6 weeks to 12 years old.
Kelley Basey, owner and director of the facility, has been working to balance the health and safety of her staff and clients’ children with providing what she and the state consider to be a needed service.
“It does create a lot of stress and anxiety,” Basey said.
The academy typically has about 80 kids. On Monday, it had fewer than 30.
Basey said the facility has been adapting to the drop by combining classes. Her staff, made up of about 12 to 14 full-timers and a couple part-timers, have cut back on hours.
As the pandemic worsened, she asked her staff if they wanted to shut down. They all said no.
“We’ve been here for 13 years; we’re not going to stop now,” Basey said. “Until the government says shut down, we’re going to stay open for people that need us.”
Parents of Shining Stars kids are out on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis every day, Basey continued.
“If we weren’t here for them, then we don’t know where they would go,” she said.
Jenniece Tyree, who works for BuyBoxer in Indianapolis, a merchant for Amazon, has three children enrolled at Shining Stars Child Care Academy.
“If they were to shut down, I don’t have any other option,” she said of the child care facility.
Misty Mullins, who works in the Hancock County recorder’s office, brings her 5-year-old son to the academy. He’s been attending since he was an infant.
Mullins and her colleagues currently work on rotation in the office and from home. She said she likes knowing that her son is safe, being educated and being taken care of while she performs her government duties.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes COVID-19 spreads through respiratory droplets from an infected person’s coughs and sneezes. The CDC urges people to wash and sanitize their hands and clean surfaces often throughout the pandemic.
“Fortunately we’re already fanatical about cleaning and sanitizing,” Basey said.
She’s had a policy in place ever since she opened 13 years ago that visitors sanitize their hands from a bottle in the facility’s foyer. Shining Stars kids always wash their hands upon arrival, pandemic or no pandemic, and then multiple times throughout the remainder of the day.
Some of the kids’ lesson plans incorporate topics like hygiene, Basey said, adding students are familiar with the practice of coughing into their arm.
“It’s nothing we had to teach from scratch,” she said. “They’re very familiar with all those practices.”
Her last order for hygiene and cleaning supplies was fortuitously shortly before the pandemic started mushrooming, leaving her well-equipped.
Health experts and government officials have been encouraging people to keep at least 6 feet from others when out and about.
“It’s very difficult, especially when you’re talking 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-year-olds,” Basey said.
But they’re spreading out as much as possible when they can, she continued, adding it’s gotten easier due to the drop in attendance.
Staff keeping a close eye on how children appear to be feeling has also always been a policy at the academy, Basey said.
Shining Stars is not currently taking new children and has had to temporarily bar a few of its regulars due to possible exposure outside the facility to COVID-19 and other upper-respiratory issues, Basey said. Field trips have been canceled for the time being as well.
Staff is also getting ready to help the academy’s school-age children with e-learning.
Indiana leaders expect the state’s COVID-19 cases to peak sometime in mid-April to mid-May. Basey said she may have to close during that time and prepare for the financial difficulties that would result, like making payroll, utilities and rent.
Renee Morales, owner of Promises and Possibilities Childcare in McCordsville, normally has two day cares with 12 children each. Now she has one day care with about 11 kids. Her business serves children 8 months old to kindergarten, and she said most of their parents are now working from home or for employers considered nonessential.
Those who remain are the children of those who work in fields like firefighting, law enforcement and long-term care. They keep working, so she must keep working, she said.
“Where are they going to go if I’m not open?” she said.
There’s lots of hand-sanitizing at the day care, Morales continued, adding children get their temperatures taken upon arrival and after naps. Fever is a symptom of COVID-19.
“And wash hands, wash hands, wash hands, wash hands,” Morales added.
Megan Linden, Morales’ daughter and a nurse practitioner for Community Health Network, brings her 5-year-old son to Promises and Possibilities. She likes that he gets to continue being around those he’s accustomed to during these trying times.
“It’s not changing his routine, when the rest of his life is definitely not routine right now,” Linden said.
Noah’s Ark Daycare in Greenfield serves children age 2 to fifth grade. Jodie Fuller, director of the facility, said it’s currently running at about a fourth of its capacity.
The day care has had to lay off some employees, combine classes and adjust schedules, Fuller continued. She said classrooms have no more than 10 children and rooms are cleaned two to three times a day. Hand-washing is routine, hand-sanitizer is abundant and kids are even learning songs about proper hand hygiene.
“We’re doing our very best,” Fuller said.
