Parents, teachers scrambling as longtime facility prepares to shutter

BY DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

 

After 34 years in the community, Bowling Green’s First Baptist Church Child Development Center announced a closure date of Dec. 20.

The main floor — capacity, 155 children — has served those 6 weeks to 5 years old with breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks as well as activities that vary by classroom. The upper floor has operated a summer weekday program serving up to 95 school-age children up to 11 years old.

Both will close. While the closure could happen earlier if enough employees leave, church Executive Pastor David Tooley said he expects it won’t.

The impending closure marks the end of a local institution for families, one that thousands of parents and guardians have trusted with their children since 1990. Some 60 employees have served around 110-120 children at once in recent years, Tooley said.

Its closure heightens a dearth of child care options in the region, where daycare waitlists citywide often span months. First Baptist’s CDC additionally accepts state assistance via the Child Care Assistance Program.

“I loved it,” said Sandra Quinn, whose child had attended both programs, from 11 weeks old to 11 years old in 2023. “It’s really heartbreaking to hear that they’re going to close because they have been around for forever.”

The church sent notice of the closure to parents and staff Nov. 18 — allowing about one month for parents to find child care and staff to find work.

The center attributes the closure to a financial shortfall that it says has been caused, in particular, by declining enrollment.

“Throughout the years, the (center) has operated as a ministry outreach with a financial goal of simply breaking even — balancing costs without seeking to generate profit,” states the message. “While we have worked diligently to manage costs and maintain competitive rates, persistent challenges — particularly declining enrollment — have made it increasingly difficult to sustain operations. Despite utilizing reserves and federal grants in the past, we now face a financial shortfall that we cannot overcome without significantly compromising our mission.”

The closure also follows a district judge’s March 29 finding that a former employee committed 10 incidents of criminal abuse in the third degree against a child under 12 between Jan. 5 and Feb. 23, according to a Warren County Court citation.

Tooley declined to speculate publicly how much that may have contributed to the closure.

The church, which owns the property, has yet to decide what to use the space for, he said.

But because the space is set up for kids, Tooley said, he’s “sure (they’ll) continue to use it for children’s space.”

For instance, the church has a children’s ministry with events on Sundays and Wednesdays, and the CDC property could enable that ministry to expand.

But he reaffirmed that the church so far has no specific plans.

Scrambling for child care

The monthlong notice left parents of children at the center in urgent need of child care.

It’s a desperately sought commodity — particularly in Bowling Green, one of the fastest-growing cities statewide, where daycare waitlists often span the better part of a year.

For example, most waitlists at Bundles of Joy Childcare stretch six to seven months. Nashville Road Kinder Care has some openings for 1- and 2-year-olds, but the infant waitlist is three to four months, and the waitlist for 3- to 5-year-olds stretches until August.

Ameroy Cotton, whose child had attended the CDC since September 2023, expressed a sentiment shared by others: “More than anything, I’m disappointed.

“I’m disappointed that they couldn’t find a way to save it.”

Cotton found two places out of 13 that had openings. Among those that didn’t, the waitlists averaged between eight months and a year, she said.

“I had to spend a lot of time not working trying to research and tour places,” Cotton said. “Not only was it stressful for our family — just the transition period for our child — but it was stressful for my job as well.”

Another center parent, Lauren Guess, whose child was afflicted by one of Shobe’s 10 reported cases of abuse, said she eventually managed to land in-home care for her child.

“Thank goodness — we didn’t have any other options,” she said. “We have been on other waitlists since February happened, and have not gotten a single call.”

Losing work

Out of work on a month’s notice, CDC staff were also caught by surprise. Multiple are parents to children able to attend the center on a subsidy.

One mother and teacher, who asked for anonymity to avoid complications with future jobs, said the closure may prevent her from affording Christmas for her children.

“I don’t even know if I’ll have enough money to get them presents. I don’t even know if I’ll have enough money to get a Christmas tree for them,” she said.

And — as she saves for rent — she’ll need to find another daycare for her children.

“It just hit us all at once,” she said.

She and two other teachers described a staff who have virtually all had their lives upended.

For CDC assistant teacher Allison Franklin, who began at the center in March, the job’s flexible hours have allowed her to balance work while she pursues her education to become an elementary school teacher.

“I feel like I’m kind of in limbo at this point, trying to figure out: What can I do?” she said.

CDC teacher Nakiya Sykes, a recent hire, said the closure turned her away from the career path.

“We’re all struggling,” she said. “A lot of us have finally found a job. But trying to find a job and getting called back has been heartbreaking.”

The response to the closure at the center has been overwhelming, Sykes said.

She described a little girl who’s attended since 6 weeks old, crying about closure with her mother.

“It’s been sad — it’s been a lot of emotions, honestly, because there’s a lot of parents that have been there for years,” Sykes said.

She pointed to the center’s message to parents, which included a list of daycares.

“A lot of their waitlists are in January or in August — that’s the earliest (families) can get in,” she said. “Yet, January’s so close … What are (parents) going to do in the little timeframe that they might not have off between Christmas and New Year’s? So, they’re having to figure that out … ”

Horowitz writes for the Daily News via a partnership with Report for America.