ATLANTA – When the recession ended, the Precious Treasures Christian Learning Center had about a dozen fewer students. It was a significant blow for the small Valdosta provider, which said good-bye to children whose parents lost jobs or were forced to cope with reduced work hours.

The biggest hit was to the center’s private pre-kindergarten program. Parents opted instead for the state’s free program, said Melisa Williams, assistant director.

The center made adjustments to stay afloat – cutting staff hours, slightly raising fees and postponing a $20,000 upgrade for the playground.

“We definitely credit God with getting us through the hump because we did have a lot of centers around us close during that time,” Williams said.

Unlike many other providers, Precious Treasures has mostly bounced back from its recession lows. It has even put in that pricey new playground equipment.

A new study finds that many Georgia childcare providers and education centers have not seen enrollment numbers return to pre-recession levels. Right now, as many as 30 are closing every week, said Amy Jacobs, commissioner of the state Department of Early Care and Learning.

Specifics of the study commissioned by Jacobs’ department at a cost of $532,000 won’t be available until a full version is published later this month. A summary was released this week.

The department asked Georgia State University and the University of Georgia to take a close look at how the industry fared during the economic downturn.

Researchers found the early childcare and education industry, after the recession, had an economic impact on the state worth about $4.7 billion in 2013. That was an increase from 2008, when the impact was estimated to be about $4.1 billion. It employs more than 67,000 people and enables parents to earn $24 billion at work.

With numbers like those, the industry carries as much as economic clout in Georgia as the pharmaceutical industry.

Stacie Dean, co-owner of Brookfield Academy, also in Valdosta, knows that isn’t how most people view childcare facilities. That’s what motivated her to participate in the study and why she welcomed its results.

Dean said she knows people easily dismiss childcare centers as “somewhere you take your child when you have to go to work.”

“We’re not babysitters,” Dean said. “We’re implementing lesson plans and learning activities in our infant rooms.”

The study found that large centers – like Brookfield Academy, which has capacity for about 300 children – have absorbed many of the children from smaller centers that have closed.

But several factors prevent enrollment from fully rebounding, said Sally Wallace, an economics professor at Georgia State University.

The state’s relatively slow recovery is among them, she said.

“It makes those decisions very tenuous: ‘Do we put our child back in childcare, or do we try to figure it out and wait and see how strong this recovery is for ourselves?’” Wallace said.

The full report will shed light on why the state is losing childcare providers, said Jacobs. More than that, she said, it will make the case for putting more state funding into early learning beyond pre-K.

“I don’t know that the state can ever afford – or ever really wants to make that policy decision – that it can provide childcare to 337,000 children,” she said. “But they can make investments, just like they have in pre-K.”

The state could provide resources through tax incentives or increased subsidies for those who participate in or support a two-year-old Quality Rated program, which issues centers one to three stars.

Dana Rickman, policy and research director with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, said the study shows the investment would create an immediate impact in addition to the better known long-term economic benefits.

“It’s sort of a double whammy for us to get more – especially low-income kids – into high-quality centers,” she said. “To do that, you need to support the industry that provides that service.”

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.