The Early Learning Center at Bucks County Community College needs our help! On Wednesday June 17 parents were informed at 4 PM that the center would be closing in August for good. Many faculty, students, and community members rely on the Early Learning Center for a safe and affordable place for their children to be educated. Parents are now left scrambling to find suitable childcare for their children with about 2 months notice before the fall semester. The amazing teachers and staff will also be losing their jobs in less than 2 short months. Many early education centers already have staff in place for next year as well as waitlists for students planning to attend their facilities. 

This wouldn't sting many of us quite as much if the Board of Trustees didn't just award the President of the college with a $30,000 bonus at the trustees meeting on June 4. This is occuring all while simultaneously telling the parents, staff, and community that the college is hemorrhaging money due to low enrollment (enrollment and financials from the college are not on the website so they have not been able to be verified at this time). 

Statistics and studies show how important early childhood education is not only for kindergarten readiness, but for shaping a child's entire educational journey. The college did not give the parents any type of notice to find alternative educational opportunities for the upcoming school year, in turn jeopardizing our children's education. A community college is supposed to do just that, serve the community. Community parents, faculty, and students were relying on this educational opportunity for our children to either work or obtain a degree to better their lives. 

At the bare minimum we would like to have the school open for the upcoming school year while allowing the parents the opportunity to fundraise, contribute more financially (tuition increases were not offered), and any other help we can give to try and save the school. It is to late for many of the children who were entering the Pre-K program to find alternative schooling. Keeping the school open for at least one more year will allow families of younger children the ability to find alternative educational opportunities for our children, the Pre-K students to graduate into Kindergarten, and the staff to find more employment opportunities.