DAYTON — Waiting for word on when daycare facilities can reboot in the state's Responsible RestartOhio plan is a challenge for Mini University president Julie Thorner.
“It’s been a challenging time for sure,” she told News Center 7′s Sean Cudahy in an interview this week.
Gov. Mike DeWine hinted he would announce plans for restarting daycare facilities this week, but Monday said he needed more time because he wanted to get things right on issues of social distancing and still unanswered questions about children and the spread of the coronavirus.
He didn’t meet with reporters Wednesday. And it’s not clear whether he’ll say anything about daycare facilities today.
“We hope to hear a clear answer, first on a timeline, some kind of firm date of when child care centers can open,” Thorner said Tuesday night. “Then, information about if there are going to be changes to licensing, specifically ratios and group sizes. That would be the most helpful information to have.”
Mini University has four locations in the Dayton area and one in Oxford. The locations have been closed for two months since the state shut down businesses deemed non-essential.
When child care centers are closed, Thorner said, businesses are not operating as they should.
“Employers need to rely on employees,” she said, and employees with children need to rely on child care facilities.
Even though June 1 is not a firm date for daycare facilities to reopen, Thorner said Mini University has been preparing to reopen on that date.
If DeWine would give a date, with details to follow, that would give people hope, she said.
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