Before & After School Care

Our payments are due one month in advance with billing on the 3rd and payments due by the 5th, starting in August. The payment made in August is for service from August 26 to September 30; the payment made in September is for service in October, October is to pay for November, etc. Final payment for the year is in May, for service in June. There is no payment due in June.

We have several options for making your monthly payment.

The following options can be used to make a payment for Before and After School Care:

• Option 1: an annual payment (Please note: There is no discount for paying annually)
• Option 2: an automatic debit from a credit card (debited on the 3rd)
• Option 3: an electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a checking account (debited on the 3rd)
• Option 4: a monthly bill which will be emailed to you.

For Option 4, payments can be made in one of the following ways:

• Directly into your School Age Services billing account. Please note that this is a separate account and login page from the CA member system. For returning families you should already have login credentials for your SAS Billing account, for new families we will be setting you up with credentials within the next week or so.
• By mail or in person:
  • Columbia Association SAS
  • 6310 Hillside Court, Suite 100
  • Columbia, Maryland 21046
  • Payments should be mailed with enough time to allow for mail delays, payment must be received by the fifth day of the month.

Credit card payment can also be made using our one time Secure Online Credit Card Payment Form

The tax identification number is 52-0823992. The Columbia Association’s School Aged Services Department does not provide a statement for taxes. A copy of your monthly bill should be kept for this purpose.

Reduced rate is available for Howard County residents only for School Age Services, as the programs are held in the public schools, whose household income is within the Columbia Association guidelines. The income-qualified application and the required documents must accompany the registration form and required fees. For information about the reduced rate program, download the income-qualified application. Purchase of Care through the Maryland Department of Social Services is also accepted.

Any medication that may need to be administered during the before or after care program must be accompanied by a Medication Administration Authorization Form that has been signed by a physician. This includes rescue inhalers and Epi-pens. We do not have access to medications given to the school nurse and will need them in our program.

This year there are new requirements for the forms. They must be MSDE Office of Childcare forms, we can no longer accept the HCPSS version, and there are secondary forms needed based on the specific health concern. There are Allergy and Anaphylaxis, Asthma Action Plan, and Seizure, Convulsion, and Epilepsy Disorder forms.

If your child will need medication during our program, you will need to have the appropriate forms completed and submitted to the program on the first day of school along with the medication.

• Medication Administration Authorization Form
• Allergy and Anaphylaxis Medication Administration Plan
• Asthma Action Plan and Medication Administration Form
• Seizure, Convulsion, and Epilepsy Disorder Medication Administration Authorization Form

CA adheres to all guidance provided to child care programs from The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). For families, this includes:

-Parent drop off and pick up outside of the program (no parents/guardians will be permitted into the program with children for any reason). Parents and children must wear masks covering their noses and mouths during pick up and drop.

-Families will have to complete both a symptoms questionnaire and a temperature check before their child is permitted into the program each day. Temperatures of participants must be taken in the presence of CA staff and recorded. Temperature checks will be also conducted mid-day for any child participating in the full day program.

-Children and staff are required to wear masks/approved face coverings that cover their nose and mouth for the duration of the program. There will be no exceptions to this requirement.

-Children will be required to maintain the six feet of social distance for the duration of the program day.

-Handwashing will occur upon arrival, before and after snacks/meals, upon return from outside and any other time during the program that bodily fluids may be present.

–All cleaning and disinfecting will occur per the current CDC recommendations. This includes frequent cleaning of all high contact areas used by children: before the start and at the end of each program, after children use an area, including bathroom door and faucet handles, and transition to another, before and after snack, after outdoor play and anytime bodily fluids are present.

Childcare staff must monitor children for signs and symptoms of acute illness and notify a child’s parent or guardian upon observing signs or symptoms of acute illness. Staff must provide temporary isolation for the affected child in a suitably equipped separate area within sight and hearing of an adult. Staff may not admit a child to care or allow a child to remain in care when the child is exhibiting symptoms of acute illness. A child may not be readmitted to care for an absence of three days or more, due to an illness, without a written statement from their physician stating that the child is not contagious and may return to a regular schedule.

A child may be excluded from care if:

• The child’s illness prevents the child from participating comfortably in activities that the facility routinely offers for healthy children or mildly ill children.
• The child is displaying any of the signs and symptoms that require an evaluation from a health care provider as indicated by the child’s age and condition. In this situation, the parent is notified of the need for immediate emergent or urgent issues.
• The illness requires more care than the childcare staff is able to provide without compromising the needs of the other children in the group.
• The child exhibits an acute change in behavior. Examples may include lethargy, a lack of responsiveness, irritability, persistent crying, difficulty breathing, or a quickly spreading rash.
• The child has a fever at or above 100.4 degrees F, taken orally or a temporal scan.
• The child has diarrhea. The child will not be readmitted to care until diarrhea-free for 24 hours.
• The child is vomiting. The child will not be readmitted to care until vomiting has ceased for 24 hours.
• The child has impetigo/scabies. The child will not be readmitted until treatment has started, as verified by a healthcare professional.
• The child has Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease.
• Symptoms indicating a probable case of COVID-19:

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

This list does not include all possible symptoms. CDC will continue to update this list as we learn more about COVID-19.

Sick children and staff will be required to stay home. Sick staff will be sent home immediately and sick children are required to be picked up by a parent or emergency contact within 30 minutes.

• Communicate to parents the importance of keeping children home when they are sick.
• Communicate to staff the importance of being vigilant for symptoms and staying in touch with facility management if or when they start to feel sick.
• Establish procedures to ensure children and staff who come to the childcare center sick or become sick while at your facility are sent home as soon as possible.
• Keep sick children and staff separate from well children and staff until they can be sent home.
• Sick staff members should not return to work until they have met the criteria to discontinue home isolation. Physicians notes will be required for children to return to care and staff to return to work.
• Have a plan if someone is or becomes sick.
• Plan to have an isolation room or area (such as a cot in a corner of the classroom) that can be used to isolate a sick child.
• Be ready to follow CDC guidance on how to disinfect your building or facility if someone is sick.
• If a sick child has been isolated in your facility, clean and disinfect surfaces in your isolation room or area after the sick child has gone home.
• If COVID-19 is confirmed in a child or staff member:
  • CA will contact the Howard County Health Dept. for guidance on next steps.
  • Close off areas used by the person who is sick.
  • Open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the areas.
  • Wait up to 24 hours or as long as possible before you clean or disinfect to allow respiratory droplets to settle before cleaning and disinfecting.
  • Clean and disinfect all areas used by the person who is sick, such as offices, bathrooms, and common areas.
  • If more than 7 days have passed since the person who is sick visited or used the facility, additional cleaning and disinfection is not necessary. Continue routine cleaning and disinfection.

Should it be necessary to contact a parent regarding illness or injury, it is the parent’s responsibility to arrange to pick up the child within 30 minutes of notification.