GEORGETOWN, Del. — Parents are working to be heard as a long-running early learning center in Sussex County faces the possibility of closing at the end of the school year.
The Sussex County Vocational Technical School District Board of Education is expected to discuss ending its lease with the independent center, Kristin’s Care Inc. Early Learning Center, at its meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Parents and alumni of the center, which operates inside Sussex Tech, have written letters of support, some calling it an invaluable resource to the community.
Hayley Mehalshick is one of those parents. She started a petition to save Kristin’s Care, and it gathered more than 1,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.
Mehalshick said her 4-year-old son has gone to the center for about two and a half to three years. She said steady child care shapes her whole day.
“It’s everything,” Mehalshick said. “ I mean, it is what your world revolves around, you know, dropping him off, picking him up before work, after work,” Mehalshick said.
Kristin’s Care Inc. has a partnership with the school. Sussex Tech lets the center use its space, and in return its students get hands-on experience working with children. The center provides child care to Sussex Tech teachers, students, and community members.
It has been open since 1991, going through three different ownerships.
Mehalshick said she moved her son to Sussex Tech after a bad experience at another center. She said that if the lease ends, she expects a gap of about six months in care before he starts school. She said this means she will have to find childcare.
The center’s administrator, Melissa Filletto, said the superintendent told her last week that the board’s agenda included ending the lease at the end of the school year. She said she was surprised.
“Unfortunately, it was a very tough situation to hear,” Filetto said. “I was very blindsided. I have been brought to the table for many conversations with Sussex Tech, as far as their child ed pathway, their advisory committees, the planning and, you know, building of the new school. So to get this information that we were no longer going to be a part of that Sussex Tech community was very upsetting.”
The district says no decision has been made.
“Nothing has been determined because there has not been a formal board of education discussion. That will take place during tomorrow’s board meeting,” Gina Derrickson, the district’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
Filletto said the center has almost 50 children enrolled and 15 employees, nine of them current Sussex Tech students or graduates. She said that community is hard to replace.
"Kids flourish and develop, in positive, safe, trusted environments,” Filetto said. “And that's what we provide for these families. We have children that come to us as infants, and then don't leave until they're 13. And, that is just amazing to see the development."
Sussex Tech is in the process of building a new school building. According to Filetto, the school is building a new childcare center. She said she took part in the planning and designing of it.
Filetto said the superintendent told her the district needs the current center’s space for incoming students because the new school building will not open until 2028. Filetto said it has not been decided who will run child care in the new building.
“Having someone dependable is, it's a huge part of our life,” Mehalshick said. “And having someone that he cares about, someone that he enjoys, that I know that I can depend on, It's invaluable. Like, I can't. I can't get through a day without them.”
