Closing of day care tough, necessary
The Children’s Learning Center at Howard Community College has always been a wonderful facility run by dedicated and talented staff who cared passionately about the education of each child. I am pleased that the center continues to be loved and supported by current and former families. It is what I dreamed would be possible when I opened the Children’s Learning Center in 2000. Thecenter was one of myfirst assignments whenI joined the college, and I dearly loved visiting the center and watching the children enjoying the playground, story time, and lessons from the teachers.
For these reasons, closing the center has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made as president (”Parents disappointed by closure of Howard Community College’s Children’s Learning Center,” Aug. 8). The coronavirus pandemic has created health, safety and financial challenges that Howard Community College has never before faced. The center temporarily closed in March as the college switched to remote classes and services. For the fall semester, Howard Community College continues to be remote except for a few classes that must take place in person for accreditation or graduation requirements. We have been purposely cautious because the global pandemic continues to impact hundreds of lives each day in Maryland. While plans were considered for reopening the center, the college did not see a way to reopen safely during the pandemic.
The current environment has forced the college to critically examine its operations and services. The center was founded to serve Howard Community College students who needed child care while pursuing their college education. Over time, the number of Howard Community College students served decreased. At the time of closing, only 20 children of Howard Community College students and seven children of employees used the center. The number of community children was more than double at 59 total. While we value every child and family, the center had moved away from its founding mission.
The college has always supported the operation of the center far beyond the tuition paid by families. In 20 years, that subsidy steadily increased to $350,000-to-$400,000 annually. With the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the costs that were originally budgeted at $350,000 annually increased to $100,000 monthly. This past fiscal year, the center cost the college $610,000, with projections of at least that amount estimated for this year.
Howard Community College was not alone among community colleges in struggling with the high cost of operating child care centers. Over the past three years, one of the largest community colleges in the state stopped operating its three centers, and another community college reduced the number of its centers from three to one. And since March, many other community colleges have made the decision to close their centers due to the coronavirus and financial challenges. For Howard Community College, funding is already tight. The state of Maryland cut $3.3 million from the college’s operating budget this year, and we have been told that the outlook will not improve this year or next. Our faculty and staff, who are working harder than ever before due to the pandemic, did not receive raises this year. And the college, which was paying over 600 hourly workers since March because they could not work remotely, needed to stop paying them June 30 due to lack of funds. Additionally, as of this writing, the college’s enrollment numbers are less than what had been budgeted which will also reduce the college’s revenues to operate.
I regret that the closure has left families looking for new child care and staff looking for new jobs. The college is working with the families to help find new placements and the staff to find new jobs. The closure of the Children’s Learning Center is not a decision that the college wanted to make; it was a tough decision at a time when more difficult decisions lie ahead as the pandemic continues.
Kate Hetherington, Columbia
The writer is president of Howard Community College.