CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tiffany Williams spent most of Wednesday morning calling day cares in the region, hoping one might be able to take her 2-year-old on short notice.
Two told her they “might” have an available spot for her child. Five offered her a place on their waiting lists.
“We have three weeks, basically … as a parent, I’m frustrated with the state and with Kanawha County Board of Education,” she said. “To give parents three weeks notice in saying you’re going to shut down, it’s devastating. It’s not like you can walk into a day care and they’ll say ‘oh, yes, bring them in tomorrow.’ There are waiting lists, and you just hope and pray something comes up within three weeks.”
Williams is one of dozens of parents who received notice Wednesday that the Public Employees Day Care on Charleston’s East End will close next month. The day care has struggled for years with the threat of closure. In 2014, Kanawha County Schools, which manages the day care but doesn’t own it, attempted to close it and two other facilities, but reversed course…