Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds paid a visit to Atlantic today (Friday). The next Governor of Iowa stopped at the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center to speak with local officials and State Representatives Tom Moore, and Tom Shipley. Afterward, Reynolds went on a walking tour of the facility.

IA Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds w/ Representatives Tom Moore and Tom Shipley (to her left); Kelsey Smith &; Christina Bateman (to her right; back row: Pat McCurdy with CADCO, Atlantic City Administrator John Lund and Hal Gronewold with SWIFS, along with Center Director Dianna Williams.

The facility, which opened in June, 2010, is certified for 101 children, but has a total registration of 110, although they’re not all there at the same time. The Wickman Child Development Center is operated by the Nishna Valley YMCA.

Christina Bateman is on the YMCA Board and a member of the Y’s Ann Wickman Committee. She said  the Center operates on a separate budget than the Y, and is a 501-c 3 non-profit organization. As such, one of the struggles they face is having the facility “break-even” on the costs of operation. She said they increased rates slightly for parents to send their kids to daycare, but still try to keep it as affordable as possible.

Republican Representative Tom Moore, of Griswold, asked if they find it difficult to maintain their staff of 32. Center Director Dianna Williams said it is hard to maintain teachers because they struggle to keep the required ratio of teachers in the classroom, and keep up the quality of training. She said “Because we provide all this training, [our] pay can’t be very much because we’re a non-profit facility. We still want to try and keep our prices affordable to our families but yet maintain those staff and provide them with all the training they need, so it’s kind of a ‘touchy balance.’”

Christina Bateman said the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also impacts the number of people on their staff who can work 30 hours or more per week. The Lt. Governor told Bateman and the others, that the ACA issue is likely to be discussed at the Federal level, “Sooner rather than later.”

She said she completely understands how hard it is for parents to pay for early childcare. When incomes are cut and insurance costs rise, child care is one of the first things to get “Whacked” on their budget.