VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Hampton Roads schools are starting online in less than two weeks and many parents say they are scrambling to make childcare plans for their children.
“Childcare has always been so expensive,” said parent Angela Turpin.
‘Can’t afford,’ ‘no plans,’ ‘quit work,’ those are some of things parents posted on Facebook when asking about child care plans in Hampton Roads.
"When you have multiple children it adds up and it adds up very quickly," Turpin said.
Angela Turpin lives in Chesapeake. Her three kids start virtual school in just 13 days.
She has to work and she said childcare isn’t in the budget at $125 a week, per child.
"We are looking at about $1,200 a month and when you don’t make much more than that, after taxes and insurance, I will walk away with nothing," Turpin said.
Even stay-at-home parents face tough choices.
“A lot of people have decided to go the homeschool route," said parent Sarah Shellock.
Sarah Shellock’s children attended Norfolk Public Schools. Right now family is helping out.
"My sister offered to homeschool my nine-year-old," Shellock said. "And my other sister and I are going to tag-team homeschool our second-grade boys.”
13News Now learned that options aren't plentiful.
E-learning Academy spots at the YMCA of South Hampton Roads are filling fast.
“The need for childcare has skyrocketed since the schools have made their announcements," said Vice President of Youth Development Jamie Childress.
While some facilities are full, Childress said there’s still room at multiple locations.
"We’ve hired and trained academic coaches and we will assign kids to a coach," Childress said. "The coaches' job is to motivate, keep them on task.”
Rates range from $25 to $40 a day, with financial aid available
"If they qualify, they will receive assistance as part of our mission to be open to all," Childress said. "We don’t want to turn any kid away.”
School divisions are teaming up with the YMCA to create more availability. They have a partnership with Chesapeake Public Schools, and most recently Norfolk Public Schools.
The Norfolk School Division has 600 full-day childcare spots available for their students. The Executive Director of Elementary Education Dr. Doreatha White said they recently partnered with the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club and Champions.
She said they are working with the agencies to train facilitators to help guide students. The full-day childcare will take place at one of several Norfolk school sites.
"Anyone who applies will be accepted," Dr. White said. "If we fill all of these spaces, we will expand this program as needed.”
Turpin is still weighing options.
"So, many people have had to quit working altogether," Turpin said.
She hopes to make plans work this fall.
“It is not one of those things where you can say, 'ok well it’s only one month so we can suck it up,' because you don’t know how long this is going to last," Turpin said.
The Norfolk School Division is sending more information to parents about their program soon. Dr. White says parents can call one of the agencies to start making arrangements now.
The YMCA VP of Youth Development Jamie Childress said space availability for all of their programs can be found on their website.