The Durham PreK Governance Committee voted to reduce parent fee rates from 4% of gross household monthly income to 2% of gross household monthly income.
Parent fees are monthly payments made by families to their child’s pre-K site. They are calculated by household annual income and household size based on the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Families whose household income is greater than 400% of the FPL qualify for a monthly parent fee that is 2% of their monthly income (view the estimated parent fee table).
Parent fees contribute to the monthly payments that sites receive from the Durham PreK Partners. Sites participating in Durham PreK receive $1400/month per child to support high-quality programming. Local, state, and federal funds cover the full $1400/month for families under 400% of the FPL. Families who qualify for parent fees contribute to the total $1400 paid to pre-K sites within Durham PreK. For example, a family whose parent fee is $300/month pay their fee directly to their child’s Durham PreK site, and Durham PreK pays the remaining $1100 to the pre-K site for that family’s seat. This sliding scale parent fee system allows Durham County to fund more seats for under-resourced families in the community.