Wisconsin day cares ordered to limit amount of people and children over COVID-19

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- In response to COVID-19, the State of Wisconsin is asking families to keep their kids home and putting limits on child care facilities.

The order went into effect Thursday morning, March 19, stating that child care centers cannot operate with more than 10 staff present at a time and up to 50 children.

It’s a decision that’s affecting not just families and day cares, but also its employees.

The change was made because of the COVID-19 public health emergency and was supposed to give parents and providers time to make plans for care moving forward.

The state has kept child care centers open in order to ensure care for dependents of hospital workers, first responders, and others working to stop the COVID-19 outbreak.

They’re asking all others to please keep their children home.

A child care provider CBS 58 spoke with says she’s been at her day care for five years, which shut down earlier this week. She says she is no longer getting paid, but the daycare is charging parents 50 percent of their fees even though they’re closed.

“Why are we not getting paid if you’re still charging parents 50 percent? For what? The building is closed and shut down,” said Jessica Steinbring, a lead teacher at a local day care. “At the end of the day, they’re a person trying to have money for their family as well, so that I understand, but you have to remember the people who helped you run that business. And we are the people who ran that business. So that’s what hurts.”

CBS 58 spoke off-camera to the owner of a local daycare who confirms they were charging 50 percent of their fees and the money was used to pay their employees for planning days they gave them this past Monday and Tuesday, and to pay their rent and other bills. However, after our inquiry today, they’ve since had a change of heart and will no longer be charging families for as long as they remain closed.