The State of Ohio has a new program to ensure that students learning remotely have a safe place to go during their normal school day if their parents must go to work.

Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 25, childcare providers licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Education may care for school-age children who are learning remotely during the school day.

Those providers will receive funding to cover the cost of care for economically eligible children.

The state education department is also working on a plan to offer the same option to its licensed school-age childcare providers. That program could be in place early next month upon approval by the State Board of Education.

“With more than 30% of school districts opting for remote and hybrid models of learning for the start of the school year – including many of Ohio’s largest school districts – working families need safe options for their child’s care during the school day,” said Governor Mike DeWine.

The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services will launch the newly instituted Temporary Pandemic School-Age Child Care license to ensure children have safe places to go when they are not learning in school. Organizations such as churches, recreation centers, and businesses can apply for this temporary license to provide care to children during the school day.

“The new Temporary Pandemic School-Age, Child Care license, will ensure that our children are cared for in safe, clean facilities by qualified staff, while also reducing the regulations that organizations have to abide by to become licensed,” said ODJFS Director Kimberly Hall.

In addition to eliminating several childcare licensing requirements, ODJFS is also waiving the registration fee for Temporary Pandemic School-Age Child Care providers.

Some of the local facilities participating in this program will be Happy Campers on E. Indianola in Youngstown, Children's Academy of Ohio on Canfield Rd. in Canfield, and Crawling to Destiny on Overhill Rd. in Boardman.

Bonnie Beraduce, owner of Children's Academy of Ohio, believes her facility will be prepared, though she'd ideally like to have one more staff member. Children's Academy is still operating under reduced capacity, despite prior restrictions on those facilities being lifted earlier this year.

"They can bring in their computers and we have computers here, they will be able to have access to their classrooms, they'll be in a school age room and a teacher will only be in there to supervise," Beraduce said.

Other care providers have logistical concerns, including Tracy Jordan, owner of Happy Campers Learning Centers in Youngstown.

"There's the big question of if they're not safe enough to be in the classroom, how are they safe enough to be in childcare?" she said. "Our main concern is that we're able to provide this remote learning and be effective in doing it. My license and most of my lead teachers' licenses are from birth to five years, not elementary."

So far, the amount of funding set aside for this program is yet to be determined, and how much money each facility gets will depend on its star rating.