The friends, families, and teachers of the Elizabeth United Methodist Early Learning Center are petitioning for the Elizabeth Forward School District to bus children from all elementary schools in the school district to all the child care centers and daycare centers in the school district. We bring this petition to the school district for the health and safety of the children in the district. Many families are left without before and after school care due to lack of availability in the centers accessible to them. At some centers, families have to be turned away from a center when they need care because the center has no more available spaces, but they are the only center that has a bus to that school for before and after school care.

On the other hand, there are centers in the area that have a lack of enrollment in their school age program that could assist these families in making sure their children are safely put on and off the bus. There are also families, who have had their children enrolled in a center their entire childhood leading up to elementary school, that are then left without care due to not having transportation to the elementary school their child attends. Some of these families are unfortunately unable to find care if there is no available enrollment in the center(s) that do have transportation to their child’s elementary school.

We care about the safety and well-being of the children in the Elizabeth Forward School District and want to make sure that they are receiving the care that they need. Over a decade ago, the centers and daycares in the area used to have access to all elementary schools in the area, which provided families with the option to find the safest and best care for their child(ren). We kindly request that the school board look into opportunities to have all the elementary schools accessible to the daycares and centers in the school district.

Sincerely,

EUM Friends, Families, and Teachers