By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
No date has been officially locked in, but a groundbreaking ceremony for a new childcare center in Hoisington is scheduled for Oct. 1. The facility will be located behind Roosevelt Elementary School where a modular building used to be positioned.
USD 431 Hoisington gave Advancing Barton County Childcare the land for the center. Superintendent Patrick Crowdis said originally the daycare was expected to have room for 59 children, but that might be changing due to funding.
"It has been expressed in our meetings that through the legislative session there was some funding they were expecting to get through grants from the State of Kansas," said Crowdis. "Some of those were removed from the final budgeting legislation that took place."
There is consideration of decreasing the size of the Hoisington childcare center to a capacity of 38 children. Crowdis said he is working with Great Bend Economic Development to create surveys to identify the true need of daycare spots in Hoisington.
A $1.6 million daycare, Bright Beginnings, was constructed in Great Bend and opened in June. A $2.23 million grant from the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund Child Care Capacity Accelerator was received for the project to not only finish the fundraising for the Great Bend facility but to help start construction for the Hoisington center.