Camas-Washougal Parent Co-op faces hard times, deadline

The Camas-Washougal Parent Co-op, the oldest continuously operating preschool in Clark County, survived World War II and the Great Recession. Whether it survives the COVID-19 pandemic, however, remains to be seen.

The preschool, founded in 1940, may close its doors next month.

“This has a long legacy,” said Mindy O’Neil, the preschool’s president. Because it’s a co-op, she has a child at the school. The only paid employees are the teachers. Parents perform all other duties — everything from serving as assistants in the classrooms to cleaning them. Even though this keeps costs down, the pandemic’s financial wallop may be too much for the co-op to overcome.

When Gov. Jay Inslee closed schools in March to try to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, he permitted child care centers to continue to operate in-person as essential businesses. But the purpose of preschools like the Camas-Washougal co-op, where the school day is just two and a half hours, isn’t child care; it’s preparing children who would otherwise be at home for kindergarten. This fall, these types of preschools either shifted operations to meet new safety protocols or decided to offer remote learning. Either way, they suffered a decline in enrollment so steep that it threatens their very existence.

The Camas-Washougal co-op was among those that decided to provide in-person classes.

“We made that decision early on: This is preschool. We’re supposed to teach children how to play together,” O’Neil said. “We had a few families say, ‘Is there going to be an online option?’ We don’t have the technology. We don’t even have a computer within the preschool.”

The school’s budget and operations depend on enrolling 92 students a year, with a trimester’s tuition ranging from $333 for two days a week to $622 for four days a week. Enrollment dipped to 70, cutting into the typical annual operating budget of $150,000.

The school has decided to close its doors if it doesn’t raise $35,000 by Feb. 19, so it can let parents know before the next trimester’s tuition payment is due, O’Neil said. As of Friday, the co-op had raised $30.175.

Like the Camas-Washougal Parent Co-op and many other small, nonprofit preschools around the county, Vancouver’s Little Acorn Preschool operates out of a church basement. The program, headed into its 40th year, also launched a big fundraising effort to say afloat.

The school normally offers three-hour-a-day sessions for children ages 2 to 5, with monthly tuition ranging from $235 for two days a week and $440 for five, Director Katie Coop said.

Little Acorn is not open for in-person classes but instead offers a $185-a-month online option. When pandemic precautions closed schools in March, Little Acorn had 180 students, but enrollment has since dropped to 77, Coop said. The school’s staff of 18 fell to 12.

For families in financial distress, preschool tuition is one of the first items to cut from the household budget. For families who enrolled their little ones to give them an opportunity to interact with other children, Zoom meetings don’t cut it.

Lauren Bestul is among the parents who saw value in continuing classes for her 5-year-old daughter, Hattie, even remotely.

“I wouldn’t say it’s super-cheap for it being remote, but it’s worth it,” Bestul said. “I can’t say enough amazing things about Little Acorn.”

The school puts together a weekly kit of supplies that correspond to short Zoom meetings run by teachers, Coop said. The virtual classes meet a couple of days a week, 15 minutes at a time for the younger kids and 20 to 30 minutes for the older ones.

Bestul said she appreciates not having to pull together learning activities and the accompanying supplies. The kits include everything down to the glue.

“It’s so clearly well-thought-out. The projects are all hands-on. They’re not doing things on the screen except the Zoom meeting,” she said. She contrasted it with her second-grader’s experience in elementary school, where remote learning means screen time.

Hattie will be heading to kindergarten next fall. Bestul hopes her 2-year-old son, Meyers, will be able to attend Little Acorn in person then.

Little Acorn received a $60,000 grant from the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, which was matched by $30,000 in grassroots donations, which will keep the school going, Coop said.

As for the Camas-Washougal Parent Co-op, “we think we’re going to make it,” O’Neil said. Even after they move on, families tend to feel strong affinity for the preschools where their children attended.

“We have this amazing alumni,” O’Neil said. “We just got a donation from someone whose child was here from 1975 to 1977. Isn’t that amazing?”