In less than two weeks, signs that a nearly 20-year-old preschool closed are apparent: a disconnected phone line at the front office and empty playgrounds.
The Auke Bay Cooperative Preschool that operated out of Chapel by the Lake, a church in Auke Bay, closed its doors shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday, creating a longer than expected break for almost 40 students.
“Right now, I think Juneau struggles more than any other community in the state for adequate child care,” Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC) Executive Director Joy Lyon said.
Lyon confirmed the private school’s board members alerted AEYC to the closure late last month, however, the news is still just now reaching some.
At a Juneau Education School Board meeting Tuesday night, community member Stephanie Allison alerted the board to the closure during a discussion about limited preschool options.
Both Lyon and Allison said the closure was possibly related to financial issues, with Allison adding details about unpaid federal taxes. A representative from the preschool could not be reached to confirm the circumstances surrounding the closure.
Calls to Chapel by the Lake offices also went unanswered Wednesday.
Lyon said the Auke Bay preschool was one of just 10 licensed child care centers in Juneau. Now only nine centers and 21 smaller family centers remain.
As it stands now, there are 1,126 children under that age of 6 — preschool-aged — in unknown child care, 63 percent of whom live without stay-at-home parents. Lyon said this poses the question: Who is watching the children?
“There are over a thousand children who we don’t know where they are while their parents are working,” Lyon said. “Hopefully they’re safe and with a neighbor or family member, but we don’t know.”
Because the Auke Bay Coop was only a half-day option, Lyon said it isn’t likely the children displaced from the preschool are putting full-time working parents in an immediate bind. The real loss for them is early and enriched learning.
“(The closure) might not impact the local economy right now as much as the equality of life in Juneau,” Lyon said. “That enriched learning experience is invaluable for children.”
Bringing more early childhood education options to the area is also a concern for Juneau’s school board members. For the board’s upcoming meeting with the Juneau Legislative Delegation, members are planning to ask for expanded early learning programs, stating in board documents that “Alaska is at the bottom of the (50) states in preparing preschoolers for the skills needed in kindergarten.”
Private preschool options can cost parents $9,860 per year if they are unable to enroll their children in the Juneau School District’s Integrated Preschool options, Lyon said, a price many families can’t take on in a city with a high cost of living.
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or at paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
