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who has worked in early childhood education for more than 40 years.

Lelm recently laid o four employees who are now collecting unemployment, keeping only one teacher and one teacher assistant on her sta . And as the Early Childhood department pivots to paying said.

State o cials say they are prepared to handle the results from their efforts at balance, and know full well they are handing the community a list of lawyers who could make regulators’ lives miserable.

“No one’s ever too happy with us” anyway, McDonell said. “But in all seriousness, I think the priority here is to get the voices to the table to have a normal conversation because historically, again, it’s those wellfunded groups that have been part of the conversation. We don’t have any control or expectation about them being supportive of us or the proposal. We know they’re going to challenge us and we want that, we welcome that.”

Lehman and the advisory council already have some buzzwords in the providers based on the number of kids enrolled, she anticipates her reserves will dwindle as she tries to cover even the smaller payroll. She’s applying for grants to help ll in the gaps and has so far collected $26,000, including from the state’s Child Care Stabilization and Workforce Sustainability Grants and a $4,000 state Capacity Building Grant that can fund necessities such as furniture and educational and health care materials.