The background
The State of Texas Department of Family and Protective Services administers state regulations and general licensing procedures for all child care facilities, a council agenda memo stated, and municipalities are exempt from the licensing requirement for programs provided for elementary-aged youth so long as council annually adopts local standards of care by ordinance after a public hearing. No one spoke during the public hearing at the council meeting.
The details
The agenda memo stated the following criteria must be met to receive the exemption:
- The standards of care must be provided to the parents of each program participant.
- The ordinance must include, at a minimum, staffing ratios; staff qualifications; facility, health and safety standards; and mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the adopted local standards.
- Parents must be informed that the program is not operated or advertised as a licensed day care. The request for the exemption is necessary as the town offers different day camps and programs throughout the year for elementary-age youth ages 5-13.
- The program site has been changed to the Trophy Club Municipal Utility District Annex Building.
- The positions of camp director and camp counselors have been updated to recreation lead and recreation aides, respectively.
- The employee supervision and camp management responsibility has been updated to be under the care of the recreation superintendent.
Also of note
During a work session, council members received an update on the Explore Trophy Club initiative to promote Trophy Club and its businesses. Jill Lind, director of communications and marketing for the town, presented some information. Then representatives from Octagon Media, an advertising agency and marketing firm, discussed campaign successes.
The campaign included social media ads, including a promotion of a car show and a town park. Lind said town officials can examine the campaign’s success by studying sales tax revenues collected before the campaign was launched, requesting hotel overnight data and looking at website clicks for the campaign, which launched in July.