Lebanon
Executive Director Caroline Christie said the decision to close the center on Heater Road comes as increased costs and decreased grant funding have financially strained operations.
“For years, GMCC chose to operate this campus at a loss, but the organization can no longer support a campus that continues to run such a deficit,” she said in an email to Upper Valley child care centers.
The campus was kept open for years through a combination of donations, tuition and an “aggressive grant-writing campaign,” she said, but there’s more demand for those grants and too few funds left for the children’s center.
“It’s been increasingly difficult to provide high-quality care and charge a reasonable tuition rate for families,” Christie said in an interview on Monday. “The rising costs of operating a business as a nonprofit just became unsustainable for us.”
Green Mountain Children’s Center operates three campuses in the Upper Valley. Its Lebanon location employees 17 people and provides child care for about 40 children between 6 weeks and 6 years old.
Christie said the organization’s Hartford and Claremont locations can absorb some of those employees, but there will be layoffs as part of the closing. She’s also worried about how the closing will impact parents.
“I am concerned about a family’s ability to not only find spaces but pay for a spot,” she said.
Tuition for children up to 3 years old costs $960 a month for full-time day care. Full-time care for preschoolers costs $780, according to the organization’s website.
Barbara Nye’s 2-year-old son is enrolled at Green Mountain. She said he’ll particularly miss the staff, who quickly became like a second family.
“I think the staff there has been fabulous,” she said. “They’re family, they’re like home.”
Nye said she’s also dismayed at the thought of having to search for child care. As a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center employee, she’s been told the hospital’s child care center will enroll her son, but it won’t be cheap.
“I am finding that I will be paying a substantial amount more,” she said. “We certainly relied on (Green Mountain) being a little less expensive.”
Most child care centers are already at full capacity, said Lori Harris, executive director of Children’s Center of the Upper Valley. That’s especially true for programs that cater to infants and toddlers.
“Finding a spot for your child who’s 3 to 5 years old is not (as big an issue),” she said. “Finding one that’s affordable might be more of a problem.”
Creating a program that’s affordable to families is a challenge, Harris said. Most people can’t afford to pay more than 10 percent of their income toward child care, she said, but they’re frequently seeing prices rise.
Harris said parents often shoulder the cost-per-child at day cares because grants and subsidies are becoming harder to find. Qualified staff also is difficult to find and keep, she said.
“It’s a service industry in some regards with a professional staff,” Harris said. “That in and of itself is a bit of a challenge.”
Randi Merchand, director of Twin Rivers Children’s Center, said it’s difficult to strike a balance between affordable child care and sustaining costs.
“Charge a lot and you’re not going to get a lot (of children),” she said. “You charge too little and then it’s a question of whether the quality is good.”
Merchand said she’s received a lot of calls from families who will be leaving Green Mountain, but her classrooms are all full. She said it’s unlikely the Upper Valley’s day care centers will be able to pick up all of those families.
The River Valley Club day care center has room, owner Joe Asch said. He said the existing program will move to its new location in the Centerra business park next month and increasing enrollment from 83 to 186, meaning his center could absorb all of Green Mountain’s families.
Unlike other child care centers, the River Valley Club operates as a for-profit business.
“This is a very low margin business and in a good year, we’ll make a 10-percent profit on day care,” he said.
Asch said that’s partially because of the expense to meet local and state regulations, along with keeping prices competitive. Tuition costs anywhere between $520 a month for part-time care and tops out at $1,420 a month for some full-time care programs, according to Jenn Parker, the center’s director.
Asch said the first classroom in the 9,400-square-foot, single-story building should be complete next week, and tours will begin shortly after. A nature playground is almost finished as well and open houses will begin soon.
Because of the expansion, Asch said, the child care program also will be open to hiring laid-off Green Mountain employees.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.