Fifty-eight families in Mineral Point responded to an October 2025 childcare survey that showed some parents struggle to find care and a need for other options.
The survey showed the majority rely on in-home care or Pointer Kids Club, a before and after school program at the elementary school for school-age children.
Nearly 70 percent were satisfied or very satisfied with the childcare they have.
Thirty percent do not have daycare, the survey showed.
Of those that do:
- 23 percent have part-time daycare due to family needs.
- 13 percent have part-time daycare due to care availability.
- 21 percent have full-time daycare.
- 13 percent use Pointer Kids Club or care by a family member.
While most options to ease access and affordability for childcare focus on the state level, one strategy starts locally.
A Wisconsin Policy Forum report cited examples of Wisconsin school districts that have started providing childcare, including the Frederic and Sauk Prairie school districts.
District-run childcare centers can sometimes break even or even generate financial returns, the report said. In Prairie du Sac, a new childcare center opened last fall that is owned by the village, operated by the school district and built with donations from businesses and individuals.
“Some of these options appear promising, particularly those that involve school districts such as collaborations between childcare providers and districts or childcare centers run by districts themselves,” the report said.
The full Mineral Point School Board has not discussed such an option, but is exploring how the district could help ease childcare needs.