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Stephanie Heakins was a student at Riverview Children’s Center in Verona before advancing to kindergarten. A couple decades later, she is leading the Allegheny County early childhood education center. What she did not expect when taking over the director's position this past June was a four-month state budget impasse.
“Loans were never really an option...paying interest on loans was just not feasible,” said Heakins, director of Riverview Children’s Center. “Laying off teachers was not an option because we would never get them back.”
The center receives about $55,000 a month from the state of Pennsylvania for its Pre-K Counts program, which provides free pre-kindergarten classes to low-income families. Over 50 students are currently enrolled, and there is always a waitlist, Heakins said. They do not offer Head Start, another free early childhood education program, which receives both state and federal funding.
Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs went without state dollars during the budget impasse, causing providers to take loans and dip into rainy day funds. There are about 1,200 Pre-K Counts and Head Start providers serving over 36,000 children, according to the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.
Heakins said the center was forced to dip into their reserves throughout the budget impasse.
“[The budget impasse] was a big thing, but now we are hoping we can get back on track and start planning for the future,” she said.
The center received state funds for July through October and is awaiting complete payment for the month of November, Heakins said. December payments are in progress, according to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office.
Uniontown-based Duck Hollow Discovery Learning Center took out personal and business loans to continue their Pre-K Counts programming throughout the state budget impasse. The center also received a Budget Bridge loan through the state treasurer’s office.
“We are now working to figure out how to repay the [Budget Bridge] loan, but thankfully the interest was waived and it’s mainly just revising our budget now that we have all [the state] funds,” said Mary Belski, fiscal manager of Duck Hollow Discovery Learning Center. “We’ve paid back our other loans as well.”
Those who entered into a loan agreement were originally required to pay back the initial Treasury investment plus a 4.5 percent annual interest rate.
However, the passed budget waives this interest rate. The bill also states that a treasurer cannot issue loans to entities impacted by a budget impasse for the purpose of “replacing anticipated Commonwealth appropriations.” Sixty-six Pre-K Counts and Head Start providers took out loans through the program, totaling over $20.7 million.
About 95 Pre-K Counts and Head Start providers across 32 counties took on nearly $20 million in loans to mitigate the delay in funding, according to surveys conducted in October by Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA.
Belski said state Pre-K Counts payments for December and January are pending in their business account.
“That has never happened before. Our payment date has always been the 20th or 21st of each month for the current month, so to see it's in the queue and that it's going to be deposited was reassuring,” she said.
Owner and Executive Director Rebecca Belski said the return of state funding has allowed the center to host more events for children and their families. If the budget impasse were to have continued through December, the center would have had to close their Pre-K Counts program.
The governor made a stop in the region earlier this month to discuss investments in the state budget for recruitment and retention of early childhood educators. The new budget includes a $25 million Child Care Staff Recruitment and Retention Program, which will provide roughly $450 annually per employee to licensed Child Care Works providers. Shapiro estimates payments will be made to 55,000 childcare workers statewide.
“I don’t think $400 is going to sway somebody to take the job,” said Joanne Thralls, owner and executive director of the Red Balloon Early Learning Center in Scott Township. “We appreciate the gesture, but it’s not enough. Childcare employees do not make enough money.”
According to the PA Partnerships for Children, as of September 2024, there were about 3,000 open staffing positions in the childcare workforce, with the average salary of $29,480. Kindergarten teachers make an average of $67,670, according to the report.
The Red Balloon Early Learning Center offers both Pre-K Counts and Head Start programming, and Thralls took out a line of credit during the budget impasse.
“[Another budget impasse] is always a concern or fear, but in childcare, you learn to be on your own,” Thralls said. “Hopefully we don’t go through a federal and state [impasse] at the same time again, but we’re more prepared.”
Thralls said the center received all their state funding for July through November and is awaiting December’s.
The new state budget also allocates $326.8 million for Pre-K Counts and $90.9 million for Head Start programs, an increase of $9.5 million for Pre-K Counts and $22,000 for Head Start programs.
“We’re still waiting to see how [the increase in monthly funds] will be rolled out, but it gives my teachers an extra $14,000 that we can distribute between them to assist with salaries and benefits,” Rebecca Belski said.
Erin Yudt is a reporter with Pittsburgh Media Partnership Newsroom, part of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. She most recently was a multimedia content producer and digital reporter at WKBN in Youngstown and is a graduate of Point Park University. Reach her at erin.yudt@pointpark.edu.
The PMP Newsroom is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders here.
Header image: Outside Riverview Children’s Center in Verona, Allegheny County on December 1, 2025.
