Harwich Considers Outside Management of Preschool Program

HARWICH – After a successful first year, the town is considering hiring a program manager to oversee its preschool subsidy program.

The program is currently administered by Council on Aging Director Julie Witas and the COA staff, and there are concerns that continued oversight could work against COA programming.

Witas was before the select board last week explaining that the preschool program was a great success in its first year with support provided to 70 families served by 15 area childcare providers. Witas said she is expecting a larger enrollment this year, given the waiting list for funding last year. She estimated there could be 80 to 100 applicants and an increase to 20 childcare providers.

A few months ago, Witas said, the COA began considering program management options for the upcoming year. There are six other communities on the Cape with similar programs, two of which use an outside agency to manage the preschool program. Three towns manage the program internally. One of those towns increased a part-time position to full-time to administer the program, she said.

Witas and an assistant in the COA spend about seven hours a week on oversight and administration of the program. Knowing the program is going to grow, she questioned how tenable it would be to keep the program under COA management. The COA has been adding programs, which has doubled resident participation.

”We’re doing more with the staff we have already,” Witas said.

There are four companies in the area that manage these types of programs, according to Witas, and two of them are working with other towns. She has reached out to the companies to see if they want to expand their portfolios. The responses were “moderate,” she said.

“They’d love to be considered, but their plates are full,” she said. “Possibly in future years.”

Town Administrator Joseph Powers said he has crafted a proposal for services and was looking next year to institute outside management. If resources could be found earlier there is the potential for going to a special town meeting under consideration for November to fund management services, he said.

“It would be nice to add money to the program,” said Select Board Chair Julie Kavanagh.

The town appropriated $250,000 for the preschool program last year and again in May for the coming year.

Witas said the applications are ready for this year, and there is little change in format from last year. Contribution will be capped at $2,200 per child which, with 100 students, would total $220,000, leaving $30,000 in the budget, which would be available for families that trickle in later in the year, she said. In January, enrollment would be assessed and families could make requests for additional funds, should financial status allow it.

The estimated cost for outside management of the program was no more than $20,000.

That’s an 8 percent impact on the funds going to fund student tuitions, Select Board member Donald Howell said. That would take nine kids out of the program. He said he does not want to see students displaced to fund management.

COA Chair Richard Waystack said he does not want to minimize what the COA staff has done managing the preschool program in-house, but he does not want to see time being taken away from the staff as COA programs continue to grow. He urged the town to provide funds for preschool management, rather than hurting COA programming.

“No program should suffer because of another program,” Powers said.