Three days after dozens of frustrated parents confronted the Salt Lake County Council over its decision to eliminate four county-run child care facilities, the council announced it would hold a special meeting to consider the issue on Monday.
The council voted along party lines Oct. 28 to signal its intent close child care facilities by the end of the year in Magna, Kearns, Millcreek and Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood. In the council’s Tuesday meeting, residents urged the council to reconsider.
On Monday, the panel of policymakers will consider a motion to fund the facilities through May 31, according to a meeting notice. They also will discuss recommendations from Salt Lake County Human Resources “related to the proposed continued operation,” the notice states.
Republican council member Aimee Winder Newton, who also leads the state’s Office of Families and serves as a senior adviser to Gov. Spencer Cox, previously told The Tribune that providing a stopgap for the program to stay open longer could be problematic to retaining employees in the meantime.
But in the council’s last meeting, Winder Newton proposed to keep facilities open through May with a 20% tuition increase. Democratic council member Suzanne Harrison also proposed to keep the facilities open with a 20% tuition increase, but without a closing date, so the county could seek other partnerships to keep the day care centers operational.
Both motions failed on 4-4 party line votes. The fifth Republican council member, Sheldon Stewart, was attending the meeting remotely, and did not answer when called to vote on either motion.
The decision to keep or eliminate the four facilities won’t be finalized until the council approves its 2026 budget in December.