ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Late fees, I believe, have become a necessary component of running a good program. I remind parents that children are upset to see all their friends leave and they have to return to the classroom, in their coats, and sit in a chair waiting for their parents! It's very hard on children! and it's hard on staff. We have to be off to a lunch group, or escort a child to the bus. I have found that I have to be consistent in giving out the late fee (5 min grace, $5 every 5 minutes thereafter). There are people who are consistently late and don't care or think about how this affects others, because this behavior continues. I don't agree with Nora that it's negative to charge fees, etc....the negativity is caused by the irresponsibility of the parent who is picking up late!

Sometimes, enough is enough! It is clearly posted on our door that classes are over at 11:30 but no late fees will be charged until 12:00. It is a flat fee of $5 after 12. I certainly think that a 30 minute grace period is sufficient.
Parents really need to learn some responsible behavior---especially in front of their child. Besides,children become upset when their friends have long since left the building and nobody has come to pick them up.

At our program, our policy reads, $10 for every part of ten minutes. The teachers sign the children into the late book and parents sign them out, initialing the time and are billed. My assistant director, who is on salary, always stays and one teacher that gets paid overtime through payroll. We chose the every part of ten minutes so that we don't disput the exact minute. It also means that parents don't fly into our parking lot because a minute or two won't change their fee. By placing the charge on their account we also have a record to show parents how often it is happening.

I agree completely! The last thing we want to do as child care providers/teachers is to set up a climate of stress that will effect the children. I believe that being proactive in our approach with policies, having parents as well as staff sign contracts, and billing for additional services, such as late fees, is the best, overall approach.

I think the "standard" late policies are very negative for all the reasons stated. Instead, I staff the classroom up to 30 minutes after the classroom "closes" at 5:30 pm. A teacher is paid their reg salary to be there. They know someone is there, not an angry teacher/director waiting for them. If they are consistantly late, we call that a "late plan" and charge them $4 per day. This has worked very well for us the past years.