Note:
Concerns below, regarding the ECFE catalog, refer to the 2005-06 edition. As a
result, content of the new 2006-07 edition has been improved and edited
accordingly. Questions and concerns cited below were originally raised at the
ECFE Q&A Forum hosted by the South PAC March 2006. Click 2005 FAQs (upper right) for
Q&A list from 2005 Forum.
ECFE FAQs
frequently asked questions
2006
Registration
Q. For online
registration, can you add the day
of the week (ie. Monday, Tuesday,
etc.) rather than only the start date (ie. 3/13) to make it
easier for us to determine the
class that best fits our schedule?
A. Yes, this is a change we will look
into incorporating for the
2006-2007 school
year.
Q. Are we supposed
to take care of the required
paperwork at our first class or does it need to be sent in
before the first
class? The ECFE
booklet seems to state both. On page 19, item #3 states that registration is completed
at the first class.
Then it goes on to say that
upon notification of
your acceptance in class, please mail your payment and completed immunization form to
Then it says registration is complete only when all required information/forms are received by the
first class.
A. You are correct that the booklet is inconsistent. ECFE will try to
clarify this in the 2006-2007 booklet. In reality the paperwork and payment can be handled either before the first
class or at the first class
itself. The new approach flows more efficiently in
requesting participants to complete the immunization form and submit payment after receiving
confirmation letter prior to the
first class. It was
implemented for two reasons. First, it saves time during class so that more time can be
spent on parent
discussion. Second, mailing the paperwork and payment eliminates
the need for clerks at each of the sites, thus saving money in an era of tight
budgets.
Q. I found the
printed information in the ECFE
booklet to be confusing and very inadequate. Nowhere in
the booklet does it say when registration begins and when it ends. It only
informs you of when phone in registration begins.
A. You are correct that the booklet
currently does not say when
registration begins and
ends. This was an oversight in our editing process. We
will correct this in the booklet for the 2006-2007 school year.
Q. Can we check our class
status online like we do for
Park and Recreation classes?
A. This is a good suggestion, however, we do
not know if our computer
system is capable of
doing this. We
will look into it.
Currently, we are working on
sending email notification of your class status in order to help
save money on printing and
postage costs. [Note:
Upon hearing this response,
a member of the audience
suggested that ECFE include a box in their registration materials so parents can
indicate whether they prefer
notification by email or traditional mail. Someone else
suggested that a box also be added
on the registration materials so parents can indicate if
their contact information can be shared with the Parent Advisory Committees.]
Class Schedules &
Availability
Q. Why is ECFE not offered year-round like in Edina?
A. There is not enough money to fund ECFE summer programs in Minneapolis.
Q. Can you reintroduce Daddy
& Me classes on the
weekends at either Hale or
Burroughs? My husband and daughter miss it desperately.
A. The Daddy & Me class is currently
offered at Hale on Saturday
mornings.
Q. With our large wait
lists, could we change the
policy of waiting until
three classes are missed before a family is replaced?
A. Some teachers call the first week to make sure parents remember about the class. Its sort of
a grace period since
things happen to families like
illness, etc. There are ongoing efforts to keep all the slots in a class full.
Q. Can I attend
class without my child?
A. On a case by case basis, parents can
come without their kids just for the
parent discussion.
This has to be case by case since some of the sites have
very small parent education rooms.
Also, there are some
instances where a court orders a parent to attend an ECFE class without
their kids for the
parent education
discussion.
Q. Why do you not offer a non-separating infant class
with childcare for older kids
(ages 3-5)? Could this type of class be possible so our
second children can have the
benefit of ECFE?
A. Hale, Sullivan and Wilder are the only places with sufficient space
to support this kind of a
class. We have tried this kind of a class in the past (when
there used to be a program at Mayflower
church) and received a mixed reaction from parents. Many
parents found that this type
of a class did not
meet the needs of a second time
parent. Staffing and budget constraints are also an issue. However, if ECFE
heard a growing voice to offer this class again, we would consider it.
Fees and
Funding
Q. Please explain
what the new, higher fees are
going toward.
A. The annual funding for ECFE goes up and down
in any given year.
Minneapolis ECFE has
only raised its fees one
other time in 14
years. It was time to raise the fees again in order to bring the Minneapolis fee
structure in line with the other ECFE programs in the metro area. What many parents
dont realize is that classes cost much more than is collected in fees. Last year
approximately $120,000 in fees was collected to defray the costs of an
approximate $4 million budget. Fees will be the same
again next year (2006-07).
Q. Does the $10
early bird discount apply to
everyone or only people at a certain income level on the
sliding scale?
A. The Early Bird Plan only applies to income levels of $70,000.00 and above.
Q. Is the new system asking parents to mail in their fee payments
rather than paying in class working well?
A. The new system works more efficiently than the previous method of
paying. The reaction
from parents is mixed. While ECFE wants to do what is easiest for parents,
the teachers feel a sense of
relief from not having to collect the money and enjoy having more time to spend on parent discussions. In the
past there were clerks at each site to process the money collected from each class, but now things
are centralized at the Lehman
Center.
Q. How were families
notified of the corrected fees since they were printed incorrectly in
the ECFE booklet? Did a
letter go out to everyone on the ECFE mailing list?
A. The fees were incorrect in the printed
booklet, but were correct in the
confirmations letters
that were mailed to parents informing them of their acceptance
into an ECFE class. ECFE also added
an insert page into the brochure that reflected the correct
fee scale.
Q. Were the families who paid
the wrong amount based on the incorrect fee information given a refund?
A. Since the fees were correct in the
letters that were mailed to
parents, no refunds had to be given to families. Also, ECFE does not have a
mechanism for giving refunds. If there had been any problems,
something acceptable to
everyone would have been worked out – ie. next class at a discount, etc.
Q. How will the administrative costs of the
refund processing be
addressed?
A. There were no refunds given to families, so there were no administrative
costs.
Miscellaneous
The panel commented that parents should
not feel they have to wait
for this forum to ask their questions.
Parents should feel free to call or email
ECFE staff and management at
any time with
questions. Here is the contact information for the panel
members:
Helen Wells, ECFE Manager: 668-3928 or hwells@mpls.k12.mn.us Sharon
Moser, ECFE Assistant
Manager: 668-3931 or smoser@mpls.k12.mn.us Eric Hansen, ECFE Site
Coordinator: 668-3932 or
ehansen@mpls.k12.mn.us Joanne Webster, ECFE Early Childhood Teacher: 668-3780 or
jwebster@mpls.k12.mn.us
Q. Why is Keewaydin
in the Northeast ECFE
area? Geographically, it seems like it should be in the South area.
Which PAC should a parent attend if
their child attends ECFE at Keewaydin?
A. Keewaydin replaces Hiawatha which is geographically East.
While Keewaydin is more
Southeast we still consider it East. Parents should attend the PAC that is most convenient. They are not
limited to the area in which their child attends an ECFE class.
Q. How does marketing work
for ECFE and PAC events? Do
teachers get the event flyers and share them with the families in their classes?
A. Some teachers check their email
everyday. If the event
flyers are sent as email
attachments, the teachers will print them out and pass them
out in their classes. Some
teachers put all the flyers in a notebook that gets passed around during parent education discussions. And, some teachers post information
on bulletin boards and/or chalkboards.
In addition, Eric Hansen (ECFE Site Coordinator) does a weekly update for staff with
all upcoming
events.
Q. Does ECFE
participate in the Target Card Program where one percent of money charged
on a Target card can be given to
your school of choice? It might be something worth looking into.
A. ECFE does not participate in the Target Card Program. The
criteria for the Target Card
Program is exclusively for K-12 programming.
Q. Please give
another childrens musical group a
chance to play at ECFE events or explain why only the Teddy
Bear Band plays at everything. It doesnt seem fair especially
if taxpayer dollars
are funding them.
Please consider giving an unknown
or lesser known group a chance. I vote for the Splatter Sisters
(www.splattersisters.com).
They are three women with a lot of fun energy and they involve the crowd. They are awesome!
A. The Teddy Bear Band has always been widely requested
and well received. We
are always open to other requests as we receive
them.
Compliments to ECFE!
The following comment was received while
collecting questions for the
2006 ECFE Q&A
Forum.
The Hale ECFE site is
absolutely wonderful.
Great classrooms, cool toys, and
creative activities. But, most of all, a terrific
staff. Joanne, Kris, Connie
and Kelley are fabulous – my son loves all of them.
*Some punctuation marks, apostrophe's and the
like, simply did not translate in
the formatting of this document. We trust you will forgive the omissions,
in favor of obtaining this
information sooner rather than later.
