County has initial talks about more early childhood education

“We have to look at something that’s comprehensive”

by Katherine Nettles 

During their May 12 meeting, Gunnison County commissioner Liz Smith and representatives from Gunnison Valley Health (GVH) and Western Colorado University (WCU) discussed the issue of a chronic lack of adequate early childcare education centers in the Gunnison Valley, and how to support more of them in an equitable and sustainable way using county resources and other stakeholder support. Despite some initial proposals about how to reopen a recently closed center in Gunnison, the other two commissioners were not ready to make any commitments yet.

Smith said that Little Adventures Daycare Center in Gunnison, which had been fully renovated prior to closing “abruptly” in late 2025, would make a fairly turn-key space to reopen with more widespread community support. She said several collaborators were interested in developing a new early childcare education center in coordination with WCU. “It kind of dovetails with our strategic planning conversations about early childhood education,” said Smith, adding that state funding issues and local challenges add to the need for local intervention.

“GVH and some of our [county] staff were in a larger conversation about that with Western and other community stakeholders to explore the opportunities for getting a new provider in that space,” she said of Little Adventures’ former space. 

Emily McMahill, director for the center of health at WCU, presented how local childcare access is particularly limited for infants and toddlers. She shared data about the childcare need in the valley, with more than 130 people on waitlists for childcare ranging from infant care through three years old. “The numbers just don’t stack up,” she summarized.

Smith said the Universal Preschool program to help subsidize preschool care in Colorado has also had some unintended consequences, with funding for infant and toddler care, which is the most cost-intensive, no longer shored up by the less expensive care of preschoolers. 

Smith and representatives from WCU outlined potential to run the center by creating five full-time positions at WCU, plus one part-time front desk employee and capacity for 15 to 20 part-time teachers to cover 250 hours per week of childcare. Financial projections included capacity for about 10 infant, 24 toddlers and 16 preschoolers ages two-and-a-half to five years old.

The center would be a collaboration between WCU, GVH, Gunnison County and private funding, including the pursuit of grants. It would be pieced together with staffing and early childhood education expertise from WCU, with GVH providing the building and utilities at no cost (an approximate $6,000 investment per month), private funding and Smith suggested the county could look into supporting it through funding from the Local Marketing District (LMD), leveraging housing opportunities and offering consultants and strategic planning. Smith noted that under new state legislature the LMD is one of the only local mechanisms that can be used to help fund childcare.

“I really see this as a foundational element to our economy, and in the Gunnison Valley early childhood education is a workforce that supports the workforce,” said Smith. “There’s one center we’re trying to open and then there’s the broader conversation about how we ensure the health of early education broadly.”

Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels said she had reservations about supporting a single center with a substantial financial contribution, especially on an ongoing basis.

She noted that she had previously advocated for spending more LMD funds on childcare. “And that’s not the direction the board decided to go. I certainly have a heart for early childhood education,” said Puckett Daniels. She said she had more questions than answers about how to more equitably serve the community with childcare. “We know the math doesn’t work,” she said of the high costs of childcare for working families. “And I think the long-term solution for childcare is making it public the same way we have public K through 12. There are no childcare business models that seem to be lucrative, that last. It’s very, very challenging.”

County assistant manager for health and human services Joni Reynolds said she had not received the details of the presentation prior to the meeting, but reviewed the county’s focus on early childhood education, including support for home-based services. She agreed that there was a lot more required to address the whole issue, but would like to look at the proposal more closely and discuss it more in the future.

Commissioner Jonthan Houck said he also wanted to review the material more and get more clarity, but that he understood the cost issues of childcare, personally and as a former educator. “I always believe the business community has to be a part of the solution,” he said, as they benefit directly. He also cautioned that while the idea of allowing LMD funds to be used toward childcare originated with Gunnison County, he felt it should be used as leverage or a kickstarter rather than a long-term funding source. He echoed Puckett Daniels’ concerns that it would have to be balanced among other providers as well. “We have to look at something that’s comprehensive,” he said.

Smith said there are many ways to account for equitable support for the whole local childcare industry. “I’m trying to think through those pieces,” she said. “My suggestion today was…to have a conversation before developing something.”

She said the leverage on the table from WCU and GVH should be weighed carefully, and commissioners agreed it was an issue to continue addressing.

“I really appreciate these two cornerstone institutions coming forward with skin in the game,” said Puckett Daniels. “Obviously there’s more discussion to be had.”