After months of searching for new administrators, two Juneau childcare centers have decided to close. These closures will increase Juneau’s lack of childcare options, especially for toddlers and infants.
Two of the few childcare centers in Juneau that accept children under 16 months of age were the Aurora Lights Childcare Center and Gold Creek Child Development Center. Discovery Preschool was forced to close its waitlist this week, as Aurora Lights and Gold Creek families looked for other options.
span style=”font weight: 400 Our waitlist is so long, that some of these children may be in the first or second grades by the time we have room available,” stated Rosemary Williams who is the owner and administrator at Discovery Preschool.
Williams stated that the waitlist for their infant room was already very long. The backlog has been exacerbated by closures of Aurora Lights and Gold Creek.
She said that she has parents who are pregnant and are on the infant room waitlist, as well as parents who are looking to get pregnant.
Many workers left the industry after the closure of childcare centers was caused by the pandemic. As more parents return to work, childcare is becoming scarcer in Alaska and across the country.
Gold Creek was closed indefinitely beginning Friday, as board members look for a new executive Director. There were between 40-45 students enrolled before the closure. Others were still on the waitlist. It can accommodate 60 students when fully staffed. It was forced to close down for 12 staff members, many of whom had been there less than one year.
In mid-November, Gold Creek’s ex-executive director resigned. Ashley Snookes, a board member, said that eight applicants have been offered the position by the center’s volunteer board, but none of them have accepted.
She stated that most were parents who had full-time jobs and lived in the area.
“We just haven’t been able to find the right person.” We haven’t been in a position to find the right person .”
Gold Creek is open to federal employees. This includes those working for the Coast Guard and FBI, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. It will remain closed until a new executive director is hired by the board.
After its unsuccessful search for a new administrator, Aurora Lights Childcare Center will close Thursday. They made the announcement to staff and families in mid-October. They had planned to remain open until March but were forced to close due to a decline in enrollment and the loss of staff.
Betty Csech, the outgoing administrator, stated that other childcare centers offered higher wages and more benefits for similar positions.
She said that she doesn’t have the resources to support larger centers funded by the state, or federal funds. “We are dependent on what we earn from tuition. It’s hard to compete with other facilities that offer better wages and benefits than we can as a smaller facility span>
Csech stated that Aurora Lights had eight students on Wednesday and three staff members. Csech isn’t sure where these students will end up.
We are interested in learning more about the effects of the childcare crisis on our community. Are you a parent, or a childcare provider who has been affected by these closings? Please share your story with us. If we would like to use any portion of your story, we will get in touch with you.
Juneau Childcare Shortage
