Parents react to Southeast closing child development center

Friday, February 2, 2018

SIKESTON -- The will is there, and if the parents of children who attend the University Child Development Center in Sikeston could find a way, they would keep the Center's doors open forever.

Citing significant budget challenges and cuts as the reason for its decision, Southeast Missouri State University announced on Monday it will close the childcare center located at Southeast's regional campus in Sikeston by June 29.

Parents of the 56 children who attend the center were given the opportunity to hear from Southeast's Provost Dr. Karl Kunkel and Dean of the College of Education Dr. Diana Rogers-Adkisson during a 90-minute meeting Wednesday at the Sikeston campus.

"My purpose is not to convince anybody of anything but simply take the opportunity to provide background and talk about the situation we're facing at the university and try to make sure people understand where we're coming from in this situation," Kunkel told the nearly 50 people in attendance. "I understand this is a very difficult situation, and it's going to cause difficulty for a number of families."

Kunkel commended the Child Development Center Director Barbara Meraz and her 16-member staff, saying they were excellent.

"This is simply based on the budget situation the University is facing. ... We're proud of it and the work they've done and the accreditation they've earned," Kunkel said.

Unfortunately, the chief academic officer said, the University is in a situation that has caused us to make a number of difficult choices. In deciding the budget reductions, the University had to keep its mission in mind, he said.

"The primary mission at Southeast Missouri State University is to provide academic programs for our students and the region -- and so that's why we exist as an institution. And we do other good things, other outreach activities like childcare centers, but our primary mission when it comes down to it, is to provide that academic experience for students who are going to college."

The University is facing significant budget challenges. The governor withheld $3.43 million in spring 2017; the University experienced a 9 percent reduction in fiscal year 2018 appropriations.

This meant $6.6 million in reductions had to be made across the University, Kunkel said. Of the $6.6 million that must be cut throughout the institution, $1.2 million of the reductions must be made in Academic Affairs, which is the division the Sikeston child development center falls under, he said.

Prior to Monday's announcement of closing the Sikeston child development center, Kunkel said the University has eliminated 55 filled and vacant positions and have also fired 20 people in the past three days. There's been a reorganization across the university to merge departments and eliminate positions, and 77 employees have opted to voluntarily retire. Employee health insurance rates have increased, and the University has implemented a four-month hiring delay in an effort to generate some savings back before filling positions.

Also on Monday, the University announced it would no longer be offering academic programs at the Malden campus. Declining enrollment in recent years was the reason cited for the decision.

"Total operating expenses for the Sikeston child development center is $342,270 so that's how much it costs to pay the teachers and the director, buy supplies, pay the bills," Kunkel said. "Of that amount, the University provides the center with $154,231 subsidy."

Since 2006, the University has provided a substantial subsidy for the child care center's budget, according to Kunkel.

"For the last four years or so, the Center has run at a deficit and so the University was putting more money into it than what was budgeted," Kunkel said. "That deficit peaked out at about $194,000 in fiscal year 2014. The child care center has paid that off slowly but there's still a deficit of $67,000. We made the decision that the Sikeston center was something we couldn't continue to fund going forward."

The Sikeston Center's budget breakdown is: $279,000 for personnel; $35,000 student labor; $20,453 for operation; and $7,500 for debt reduction.

Additional state budget cuts to the University of another 10 percent are expected in the upcoming fiscal year, he said.

Most parents wondered why University officials didn't come to them long before Monday when they were told the center would close in five months.

Kunkel apologized to the parents and said they could have come to the Sikeston center in November and asked for their feedback.

Ellie Collom whose preschool-aged son attends the Center, attended the Center attended the meeting.

"SEMO wants to blame the state cuts. I want to blame them for not operating a good business and wasting tax dollars," Collom said. "If time was spent to help the daycare grow or find grants or other programs that may work to raise more money, we possibly wouldn't be in this position."

Parents also inquired about the status of the University's School for Young Children in Cape Girardeau, which officials confirmed, would remain open. The center serves 145 children throughout 11 classrooms with children ages 6 weeks to 5 years.

"That child care center is larger, proximate to the main campus and has a larger operating budget that has more academic programs that depend on field experiences for Southeast students," Kunkel said.

Time after time, parents offered suggestions as possible solutions such as splitting the subsidy between the Cape and Sikeston centers and making cuts to the University's athletics department.

For many of the families who live in Sikeston, there isn't another child care option, especially child care for children under 2 years.

Parents said they were even willing to pay more money in order to keep a center where their children were comfortable.

"I feel like this is the safest, most educational place for my child," one mother said.

Kunkel said the average amount would be $200 more per child per month to make up the deficit, and that's not paying off the debt. It would be making it auxiliary which means the center would receive no subsidy from the University but running on its own.

"Here, you're not just talking about a daycare and a college," one mother said. "We all have jobs to think about. I'm going to have to consider quitting my job if I can't find another daycare. My kid is 1 year old. There are no other options here."

There is only other location in Sikeston that will accept children under 1 year, and it's full, the mother said.

"I called yesterday and there are 18 babies in front of my son. There's nothing else," she said.

Chris Crowley and his fiancee, Bethany Smith of Sikeston, bring their 18-month-old daughter to the center, and the couple are also expecting another child on April 1. They had been on the waiting list for the center and now do not know where their children will go.

"There's a certain peace of mind to bring your child here, drop them off and know they're being worked with on the level they are -- and not just sitting in front of TV with a sugary drink and snack and keeping quiet," Crowley said. "These ladies are just as much as part of her life as we (parents) are.

He continued: "You're not going to get the level of development that you're getting here," Crowley said. "... You keep calling this a daycare, but the whole purpose of college is to develop a person at that stage of their life. You are developing our children at this age in life. We're willing to pay the extra to cover that."

Not not only is the Sikeston center licensed, but it's also an accredited center, the center's director said.

"We just went through our licensing review last April and at the beginning of September, we received a brand new three-year accreditation that put us above and beyond in licensing," Meraz explained.

It was tough on Monday having to break the news to parents, Meraz said.

"It's very unfortunate that the University couldn't see it differently," Meraz said.

Some parents have already contacted their state representatives, she said.

"They're telling them: 'This is what happens when you cut higher education. The parents and your community are losing an important child care provider,'" Meraz said. "While it might look good on paper to have them slash that budget, it has real-world results."

Southeast alum Amber Clark, whose children attended the Center, said the Sikeston regional campus is a nontraditional student campus.

"I'm a recent graduate of Southeast and I would not have done it without these people watching my kids. I know I'm partial, but you wouldn't have gotten my tuition. You wouldn't have gotten their (child care) tuition. I know I speak for a lot of people when I say that because a lot of students that were in my graduating class had children there," she said.

A tearful Clark said even though she was married and had support, without the Sikeston Center, she would have not been able to attend college and work at the same time.

"These people raised my kids," Clark said. "Barb and her staff did a wonderful job raising my children because I had to work and go to school."

Closing the Center means taking opportunities away from future mothers and parents who were present at the meeting.

They will not have the opportunity to go to school and give you that tuition money to reach that goal that you have, Clark said.

"You are taking it away from a community of people who are trying to better themselves so you are losing -- not just the children and not just the community workers. I would not have graduated. You would not have gotten my tuition," said Clark, who is now a teacher.

Kunkel told parents the University would entertain a feasible, viable proposal for keeping the Center open.