To the editor:

I’ve owned a daycare in North Fort Myers since 1970. I would like to express my thoughts on the recent bus stop changes and how they could have long-term effects on our community’s children and their education.

This past fall, the Lee County School District made a decision to exclude daycares as bus stops to help solve busing issues Lee County has had in recent years.

Due to this change, many daycares were forced to shut down their before- and after-school care, my center included. Parents then had to make other arrangements for these hours, but had limited choices. Many were receiving subsidized child care through our local Early Learning Coalition and were also able to leave their child at daycare centers on days when there was no school. These families faced the dilemma of paying full price at a public schools, which do not provide care on “no school,” or early dismissal days and most do not accept Early Learning Coalition vouchers for payment, or busing their child home ….. unsupervised.

I’m not sure how many children were forced to stay home alone, but I am sure that all of them aren’t going home to do homework and study every afternoon. Video games and social media would now be their role model until a parent returns from work.

What impact could this have on a child’s education? Not studying and doing homework leads to low grades and lower testing scores. This can also lead to behavioral issues which can have a negative impact on a child’s education.

For students to be successful they need supervised time for homework as well as play. Daycares provide a safe, nurturing environment for children to grow and learn.

Unfortunately, we may not see all of the effects of Lee County School District’s decision for a while. Hopefully bus stops at daycares will be reinstated next school year.

Mary Wildman

Cape Coral