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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners today approved a three-year contract to reopen a child care center for the children of airport workers and the surrounding community.
The First Flight Child Development Center will reopen in the spring, tentatively scheduled for March 2022, and will be operated by the Learning Care Group. Priority for enrollment will be given to students who were enrolled at the center in January 2020, before it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the center provided child care services to 80 families, including 16 families with more than one child at the facility.
``In order to build world-class airports, we need to provide world- class resources that allow our teams and community to do their best work -- and that includes offering a high quality child care option,'' said Beatrice Hsu, president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.
``We are excited to work with the Learning Care Group to reopen the First Flight Child Development Center and provide parents with the peace of mind that their children are safe, close by and well cared for,'' Hsu added.
Cost-effective child care will be available for children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years old, with enrollment priority given first to Los Angeles World Airports employees, then workers employed by LAX tenants, then employees from other departments of the city. Remaining open spaces would be available to the public.
Before closing due to the pandemic, 16% of the families enrolled at the center were LAWA employees, 38% were LAX tenant employees, 38% were families from the surrounding community and 8% were Los Angeles city employees.
``LAWA is pleased to once again provide parents working at LAX and members of our local community with a quality, safe child care resource near the airport,'' said Justin Erbacci, CEO of LAWA. ``Since it first opened in 1998, the First Flight Child Development Center has offered engaging activities to young minds in a secure, diverse and inclusive environment that prepares them for life-long success.''
People can receive additional information about enrollment and eligibility by emailing FirstFlightChildcare@lawa.org. Families who want to be considered for enrollment should send an email with the subject, ``FFCDC Perspective Enrollee,'' and should provide contact information, their relationship to LAWA and the child's age in March 2022. Those who want to enroll an infant should send an email with the subject, ``FFCDC Perspective Infant Enrollee,'' and provide the contact information and LAWA relationship in the body of the email.